Federal Statistical Office
Coal content of electricity production has risen again
The German electricity mix shifted in the first half of the year. Less wind power meant more electricity production from fossil fuels. The climate goals are moving far away.
In the first half of this year, more electricity from coal was produced again in Germany. The proportion of the fossil fuels in the overall production rose to 22.7 percent (1, half of 2024: 20.9 percent), as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. Gas also increased by 1.7 points to 16.2 percent.
In total, the proportion of conventional energy sources climbed 3.8 points to 42.2 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. The amount of electricity grew by 10.1 percent to 93.2 billion kilowatt hours. The renewable energies, on the other hand, went back to 57.8 percent to the same extent. According to the legal requirements, their share should actually increase to 80 percent by 2030.
Wind lulls and more solar power
The main reason for the weakening renewable was the relative wind lull compared to the same period last year. The production of wind power decreased by 18.1 percent to 60.2 billion kilowatt hours. However, other alternative energy sources such as photovoltaics (+27.9 percent) were clearly increasing.
With a share of 27.2 percent, however, wind power continued to assert itself as the most important energy source before coal. Photovoltaics made 17.8 percent of German electricity production.
A total of 220.9 billion kilowatt hours of electricity were generated in Germany in the first half of the year and fed into the network. That was 0.3 percent more than a year earlier. Since 8.3 billion kilowatt hours were imported more than exported, 229.2 billion kilowatt hours were available in Germany in the first half of the year. That meant an increase of 0.4 percent.
dpa
Source: Stern
