Energy transition: electricity generation from renewable energies rises to a record

In Germany, almost two thirds of the electricity generated comes from renewable energies. The proportion rose to 63.4 percent in the third quarter, also thanks to favorable weather conditions – a high for this quarter, as the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced. In the same period last year, the proportion was 60.6 percent.

Electricity generation from wind power grew by 2.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter. Wind power remained the most important energy source with a share of 24.7 percent. The strongest growth was in electricity generation from photovoltaics at 13.5 percent – it was the second most important source of electricity at 23.8 percent.

“The increase in electricity production from photovoltaics and wind power can be attributed to particularly sunny and windy months in the 3rd quarter of 2024 and a significant increase in photovoltaic systems,” the statisticians wrote. The installed capacity at the beginning of the third quarter was a good fifth higher than a year earlier.

Coal is now only the third most important energy source

The amount of electricity generated in coal-fired power plants, however, fell by six percent in the third quarter. This means that coal-fired electricity, the third most important energy source, made up 21.4 percent of the amount of electricity generated (third quarter of 2023: 23.4 percent). Compared to the same quarter last year, electricity generation from natural gas fell significantly by almost nine percent to a share of 11.4 percent, after 12.8 percent a year earlier.

The amount of electricity imported into Germany rose by 2.2 percent to 23.6 billion kilowatt hours in the third quarter. Electricity exports, on the other hand, grew by a good 19 percent to 11.8 billion kilowatt hours. This means that twice as much electricity was imported from abroad as was exported abroad.