Renewables Record Share of German Power Mix
Renewable energy set a new record in the first half of the year, accounting for 44% of German electricity demand, the federal energy and water industry association (BDEW) reported June 26. That was up from 39% in the same period last year, it said.
Onshore wind power was the largest producer of green electricity, with output growing 18% year on year to 55.8bn kWh across the first six months of the year. Offshore wind showed the strongest growth of all, with output rising 30% to 12bn kWh. The output of photovoltaic systems expanded by just 1bn kWh to 24bn kWh, while other renewable energies dropped by 0.5bn kWh to 36.7bn kWh.
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The high proportion of renewables is partly due to exceptional weather conditions, BDEW said. March recorded a wind record, but wind yields were consistently above the long-term average values in the other months too.
"The green power record is a pleasing snapshot, but should not obscure the underlying structural problems,” said BDEW CEO Stefan Kapferer, saying that if things followed the present path there would only be 54% renewable energy by 2030. "In order to achieve the 65% target of the German government that is necessary for climate protection, we need to remove existing obstacles. These include the area restrictions for photovoltaic and wind power plants on land and the expansion covers for wind offshore and photovoltaics outside the tendering regime.”