Renewable energies collectively covered 42.9 percent of gross electricity consumption in Germany during the first three quarters of 2019. An increase of nearly five percentage points over the same period last year (38.1 percent). If wind and solar energy yields in the fourth quarter are in line with the last few years’ average, renewables’ share could amount to a good 42 percent in 2019.
Solar, wind and other renewable sources generated around 183 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity in the first three quarters of 2019 (Q1-3 2018: 166.5 billion kWh). Renewables accounted for nearly 50 percent more energy production than lignite and bituminous coal, which contributed 125 billion kWh (Q1-3 2018: 171.1 billion kWh) to the total. During this period last year, renewables and coal accounted for close to the same share. By contrast, natural gas-fired electricity production rose by more than 11 percentage points to 66 billion kWh, which is mainly attributable to the higher price of CO2 (Q1-3 2018: 59.4 billion kWh).
Onshore wind power remained the leading source of renewable energy in the period under review with nearly 72 billion kWh (Q1-3 2018: 61.4 billion kWh). Photovoltaics came in second with around 41 billion kWh (Q1-3 2018: 39.2 billion kWh). The amount of electricity generated from biomass remained unchanged at just over 33 billion kWh (Q1-3 2018: 33.4 billion kWh). Offshore wind posted the steepest growth, rising 31 percent and contributing nearly 17 billion kWh to electrical power generation in the first three quarters of the year (Q1-3 2018: 12.9 billion kWh). Another prolonged dry period left the hydropower share low at around 16 billion kWh (Q1-3 2018: 14.8 billion kWh).
