Fossil energy trumps: Coal and gas top wind and solar in the first quarter

Renewable energies are the backbone of Germany's electricity supply—until they collapsed, as they did at the beginning of the year. The downturn is reflected in the electricity mix: For the first time in two years, consumers are receiving the majority of their electricity from coal and gas.

In the first quarter of the year, for the first time in two years, more electricity was generated in Germany from conventional energy sources than from renewables. According to the Federal Statistical Office, electricity generation from wind power fell by 29.2 percent year-on-year. The share of renewable energy sources in electricity production thus fell to 49.5 percent. At the beginning of 2024, it was still 58.5 percent.

This was due to an "exceptionally wind-poor" quarter. The sharp decline in wind power was largely offset by the operation of conventional power plants: Electricity generation from coal increased by 15.3 percent, and generation from natural gas even increased by 27.5 percent.

A total of 119.4 billion kilowatt hours of electricity were produced and fed into the grid in the first quarter. This was 1.9 percent less than at the beginning of 2024. The statistics include all power plants and facilities that feed electricity into the grid for general supply. Electricity generated in industrial power plants and directly consumed by industrial companies is not included.

PV continues to grow

Despite the overall decline in renewable energies, wind power remained the most important energy source for electricity generation in the first quarter, accounting for 27.8 percent of total electricity generation, just ahead of coal at 27 percent. Natural gas accounted for 20.6 percent, significantly higher than the previous year.

Electricity generation from photovoltaics continued to rise, increasing by a good third to a share of 9.2 percent of the electricity mix. Compared to 6.7 percent in the same quarter of the previous year, biogas accounted for 6.1 percent, and hydropower for 3.8 percent.

In the first quarter, Germany's electricity imports rose by 14.9 percent to 19.3 billion kilowatt hours. Electricity exports, however, fell by three percent to 16.2 billion kilowatt hours.