Renewable energy covered around 52% of Germany’s gross electricity consumption in the first nine months of 2023, according to preliminary calculations by the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW) and the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry (BDEW).
This corresponds to an increase of almost 5 percentage points compared to the same period last year, BDEW said in a statement.
Between March and September, the share of renewables remained stable at around 50% or more every month and reached 57% and 59% in May and July, respectively.
The preliminary calculations show that gross electricity generation in January-September 2023 was 373 billion kWh, 13% lower than a year earlier. Renewable energy accounted for 199 billion kWh of the total electricity production with almost 78 billion kWh coming from onshore wind. Solar systems produced 56 billion kWh, biomass-powered power plants fed almost 33 billion kWh into the grid and offshore wind added almost 16 billion kWh. Hydropower plants generated almost 14 billion kWh in the period.
Power generation from conventional sources declined to almost 174 billion kWh from nearly 237 billion kWh a year earlier.
In the period under review, Germany’s electricity imports increased 45.4% to 53.6 billion kWh while exports fell 24.1% to 43.8 billion kWh meaning that the country turned into an electricity importer.
The table below provides details about electricity generation in Germany in the period January – September 2023
| in billion kWh | Q1-Q3 2022 | Q1-Q3 2023 |
| Gross power generation | 429.0 | 373.2 |
| Nuclear power | 26.0 | 7.2 |
| Conventional sources | 210.5 | 166.5 |
| Renewable energy: | 192.5 | 199.4 |
| – hydropower | 13.1 | 13.7 |
| – onshore wind | 72.3 | 77.5 |
| – offshore wind | 17.0 | 15.8 |
| – photovoltaic | 52.9 | 55.7 |
| – municipal waste | 4.3 | 4.1 |
| – biomass | 32.8 | 32.5 |
| – geothermal | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Renewables share in gross power generation | 44.9% | 53.4% |
