Germany’s Renewable Energy Generation Witnesses 5% Rise YoY

Germany's Renewable Energy Generation Witnesses 5% Rise YoY

The Bundesnetzagentur, a German energy regulatory office published its electricity market data for 2023. In mentioned an increase in share of renewable energy generation in 2023, especially in the market share of the grid load.

It estimated that the electricity generated from renewable sources stood at 55.0 percent, a rise from 48.42% in 2022. It estimated that the wind farms – especially those on land – made the largest contribution. Whereas the onshore and offshore turbines together comprised a share of 31.1%. Solar covered 12.1% and biomass 8.4%, with the remaining 3.4% coming from hydropower and other renewables.

“At 251.2 TWh, overall generation from renewable energy sources was about 7.5% higher in 2023 than in the previous year, when it was 233.7 TWh. Onshore wind generation (118.7 TWh) was around 18.0% higher than the previous year (100.6 TWh). Generation from offshore wind turbines was down 4.9% year-on-year to 23.5 TWh from 24.7 TWh. At 55.2 TWh, solar generation remained at the previous year’s level (55.3 TWh). The strong growth in solar capacity in 2023 compensated for the comparatively lower levels of sun following record levels in 2022,” the report said. 

It added, “Generation from conventional sources totaled 197.2 TWh, down 24.0% from 2022. Overall, generation from hard coal was 36.8% lower and from lignite 24.8% lower in 2023 than in 2022. Electricity produced from natural gas rose 31.3% year-on-year. There were several factors contributing to the continued use of natural gas to generate electricity despite the war in Ukraine and efforts to save gas. These factors are explained in the yearly article at the grid load fell 5.3% overall in 2023 to 456.8 TWh (2022: 482.6 TWh). Electricity generation (net) fell 9.1% to 448.5 TWh (2022: 493.2 TWh).”

Wholesale electricity prices

The average day-ahead wholesale price for electricity in 2023 was €95.18/MWh (2022: €235.45/MWh). This was less than half the previous year’s average and back to the level in 2021. The day-ahead wholesale electricity price in Germany was negative in 301 of the 8,760 hours of trading (2022: 69 hours). The trend across the year as a whole was towards lower wholesale electricity prices. A chart showing this trend is available in the yearly article at www.smard.de (in German).

Cross-border electricity trade

In commercial foreign trade, Germany imported a total of 54.1 TWh (2022: 33.2 TWh) and exported 42.4 TWh (2022: 56.3 TWh). Imports were about 63.0% up and exports 24.7% down compared with 2022. There is an interaction between supply and demand across the whole of Europe. Electricity is produced within Europe wherever it is cheapest. Germany and the other European countries can all benefit from the most favorable conditions for generation in each case. The wholesale electricity prices, and trading is the result of this interplay. As a result, there may be times when it makes sense to import or export electricity for economic, rather than supply-related, reasons. Network capacity and stability also play a role in trading flows. The European internal market for electricity thus contributes to lower electricity prices and lower carbon emissions.