Renewables' share of Germany's electricity consumption falls, with wind expected to help in future

The share of renewable energy sources (RES) in Germany's electricity consumption fell by 3 percentage points year on year to 54 % in the first half of this year. This was despite the continued expansion of wind and solar power plants. The main reason for the decline was a sharp year-on-year drop in generation from wind and hydropower plants. Clean Energy Wire, an international news website, reported.

Germany's RES supplied 141 TWh of electricity to the grid in the first half of this year, down 5.4 % year on year. Hydropower plants recorded the largest decline in generation, at almost 30 % year on year. Wind power plants also saw a sharp drop in generation, of around 17 % year on year, mainly due to "historically weak wind conditions" in the first quarter of this year, when wind power generation fell by as much as a quarter year on year.

Solar power plants are the only renewable source whose generation has been growing steadily this year. Their generation rose by around 23 % year on year in the first half of this year. However, the increase in generation from these sources was not enough to offset the decline in output from hydropower and wind plants.

Wind power expansion gathers pace

The negative news about falling generation from German wind power plants due to weak wind conditions comes as the country's wind energy association, BWE, has released statistics on the expansion of wind power this year. These paint a considerably more positive picture.

According to the published data, 409 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 2.2 GW were commissioned in Germany this year. This is the highest figure since 2017. A further 1 276 turbines with a total capacity of 7.8 GW obtained the necessary permits.

Strong developer interest in building wind power plants is also reflected in the auctions for operating support for these sources. The latest auction held this year, in which projects with a total installed capacity of almost 3.5 GW secured operating support, was oversubscribed by nearly half.

Despite these figures, BWE says wind power expansion is lagging behind the levels needed to meet Germany's renewable energy targets, so efforts to achieve the targets must continue.

"This positive trend is supporting the transformation of the German economy and strengthening the resilience of the electricity system—we must maintain it. Electricity consumption will grow due to hydrogen, heat pumps, electric vehicles, data centres and the electrification of industry, as well as the economic recovery planned by the federal government. It is therefore important to stay the course and meet the expansion targets for renewable energy," said BWE chief Bärbel Heidebroek.