How Germany generates its electricity – wind power and water – increasing shift away from limited fossil energy sources

In recent decades, the way electricity is generated in Germany has changed significantly. In fact, the scale of this change shows how impressive the transition to renewable energy has been in this country.

1️⃣ The evolution of renewable energies 🍃

Germany has made remarkable progress in switching to renewable energy sources. Previously, especially in 1990, renewable energies only ranked sixth - behind such heavyweights as lignite, nuclear energy, hard coal, gases and natural gas. Now they are at the top and supply around a quarter of all electricity in Germany.

2️⃣ From coal to renewables 🌬️➡️🔋

The transition from coal, particularly lignite and hard coal, to renewable energies has not only ecological but also economic advantages. It reflects Germany's desire to create a sustainable energy future while minimizing environmental impact.

3️⃣ Reducing dependence on fossil fuels 🛢️➡️☀️

By switching to renewable energy sources, Germany has been able to significantly reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, particularly gases and natural gas. This means fewer emissions and less impact on the environment.

4️⃣ The contribution of AG Energiebalancen eV 📊

The data from AG Energiebalancen eV offers a detailed insight into Germany's energy transition. It is remarkable how transparent and open Germany presents its energy consumption data and trends, which in turn underlines the country's commitment to environmental protection and renewable energy production.

5️⃣ Future prospects for renewable energies 🌅

With continued commitment to renewable energy sources and continued development in energy technology, Germany is expected to continue to be at the forefront of the energy transition in the coming years. It will be exciting to see how the technology develops and how Germany will use it to become even more environmentally friendly.

📣 Similar topics

• 🍃 The impressive rise of renewable energies in Germany
• 🌬️➡️🔋 The transition from coal to green energy
• 🛢️➡️☀️ Reducing dependence on fossil fuels
• 📊 Insights into Germany's energy balances
• 🌅 What does the future look like for Germany's energy?
• 🍃 The green revolution: Germany's path to 100% renewable energy
• 🌬️ Germany's energy landscape: A look back and forward
• 🌞 Germany on the way to becoming the solar capital of Europe?
• 💡 How Germany revolutionized its energy strategy
• 🌍 Germany's role in a sustainable global energy future

#️⃣ Hashtags: #EnergiewendeDeutschland #ErneuerbareEnergie #VonKohleZuGrün #DeutschlandEnergieBalance #ZukunftDerEnergie

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🗒️ Hydropower is the most important energy source in global energy production from renewable energies. Around 40 percent of global renewable energy is generated from hydropower, with wind power contributing more than a quarter of renewable energy generation since 2020.

The global energy transition is in full swing and renewable energies are at the center of it. Hydropower plays a central role in this. Here is a detailed analysis of hydropower and its importance compared to other renewable energies.

🌀 The dominance of hydropower

Hydropower is the oldest form of renewable energy and has proven itself for centuries. It generates around 40 percent of global renewable energy. This is not only due to the availability and efficiency of hydroelectric power plants, but also the continuous and reliable energy production they provide.

🌊 Advantages of hydropower

Consistent and reliable

Compared to other renewable energies, such as solar and wind energy, hydropower is less dependent on the weather and provides a constant source of energy.

Environmentally friendly

Hydroelectric power plants do not emit greenhouse gases and thus help reduce the carbon footprint.

Scalable

There are different sizes of hydroelectric power plants, from large dams to smaller municipal systems.

💨 Wind power on the rise

Since 2020, wind power has contributed more than a quarter of renewable energy generation. Technology has developed rapidly in recent years, increasing efficiency and decreasing costs.

Future prospects

• With the increasing demand for clean energy and technological advances in wind turbines, the share of wind power is expected to continue to grow.
• There are also efforts to build floating wind farms at sea, which have the potential to be even more efficient.

🤝 The combination of hydropower and wind energy

Both energy sources complement each other perfectly. While hydroelectric power provides a constant supply of energy, wind power can be added during times of high demand or when wind conditions are favorable.

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• 🌊 Hydropower: Clean and constant source of energy
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• ⚙️ Technology and progress: wind power in transition
• 🤔 How hydropower and wind energy complement each other
• 🌱 The green way: Why renewable energies are the future
• 📈 The rapid rise of wind energy since 2020
• 🌬️ Harness the irrepressible power of the wind

#️⃣ Hashtags: #hydropower #wind energy #renewableenergies #energytransition #sustainablefuture

The future of energy production lies in the combination of different renewable energy sources. Hydropower remains a pillar of renewable energy, while wind power continues to gain in importance.

In recent decades, climate change has made headlines around the world. The intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, rising sea levels and melting glaciers are clear signs of the need for change. The discussions about climate change have triggered a rethink in the energy industry.

1. Move away from fossil fuels 💨

Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas have long been the main sources of energy production. But not only are they in limited supply, they are also the main cause of greenhouse gases that drive climate change. Burning these energy sources releases large amounts of CO2, which contributes to global warming.

2. Rise of renewable energy ☀️🌊🍃

In contrast to fossil fuels, renewable energies are practically inexhaustible. Here are some of the most famous:

Bioenergy 🌱

Obtained from biological materials. This can be plant waste, wood or even animal dung. Bioenergy can be used to generate heat, electricity or fuel.

Geothermal energy 🌋

Uses the earth's natural heat to generate energy.

Hydropower 🌊

Uses the movement of water, such as rivers or tides, to generate electricity.

Solar energy ☀️

Converts sunlight into electricity using photovoltaic cells.

Wind energy 🍃

Converts the kinetic energy of the wind into electricity.

3. Advantages of renewable energy ✅

Environmentally friendly

They produce little or no greenhouse gases.

Inexhaustible

They are based on natural resources that regenerate or do not deplete.

Promotes economic development

Research and development of renewable energy technologies creates jobs and drives economic development.

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• 🍃 The Winds of Change: Why Renewable Energy is the Future
• ☀️ Solar energy: The inexhaustible potential
• 🌱 Bioenergy: Green energy from nature
• 💨 Fossil fuels: an obsolete model?
• 🌋 Geothermal energy: Using the earth's heat
• ✅ The numerous advantages of renewable energies
• 🌊 Hydropower: The power of flowing water
• 🌍 Climate change: Why the energy transition must happen now
• 🔋 The green technology revolution
• 📈 Economic recovery through green energies

#️⃣ Hashtags: #RenewableEnergy #ClimateChange #Environmentally Friendly #FutureOfEnergy #Sustainability

Overall, the global shift towards renewable energy shows recognition of the urgency to respond to climate change and create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future.

Energy consumption in Germany in the first six months of the current year was around 7 percent below the value for the same period last year. According to preliminary calculations by the Energy Balances Working Group (AG Energy Balances), domestic primary energy consumption reached 5,561 petajoules (PJ) or 189.7 million tons of hard coal equivalents (million tce) in the first half of 2023. That was 7.1 percent less than in the first half of the previous year.

According to the AG Energy Balances, high energy prices and weak economic development are responsible for the significant decline in consumption. The weather had a small effect on consumption in the first half of the year. Only the population increase resulting from the current refugee movements caused an increase in energy consumption, although this was significantly lower than the consumption-reducing effects.

The AG Energy Balances assumes that prices essentially determine the course of energy consumption. Although the prices on the energy markets have fallen noticeably compared to the first half of 2022, the price level is still significantly higher than in 2021. According to the Energy Balances AG, energy prices continue to provide impetus for saving energy, albeit at a slightly weaker intensity. In its analysis, the AG Energy Balances distinguishes between current, behavioral energy savings and investments in energy efficiency with longer-term effects. The consumption-reducing effects of overall economic development are currently being strongly influenced by the significantly reduced production output of the energy-intensive industries (chemicals, metals, paper and glass). While production in the entire manufacturing sector stagnated in the first five months of the year, the energy-intensive sectors recorded a decline of 13 percent.

The consumption of heating energy was only slightly influenced by the weather conditions in the first six months. The temperatures in the reporting period were slightly lower than in the same period last year. However, in the first three months, which are particularly important for heat demand, it was warmer than in the previous year. Adjusted for the slight consumption-increasing effect of the weather, energy consumption would have fallen by 7.6 percent in the first half of the year.

Mineral oil consumption fell by 2.0 percent in the first six months of the current year. While gasoline consumption rose by almost 6 percent, there was a slight decrease in diesel fuel by just over 1 percent. Aviation fuel sales rose 7.5 percent. The supply of raw gasoline to the chemical industry fell by almost 20 percent. Sales of light heating oil, on the other hand, rose by 16 percent because many consumers increased their inventories.

Natural gas consumption fell by 10.1 percent in the first half of 2023. On the one hand, the decline is due to the reduced use of natural gas in industry, and on the other hand, consumption by household customers and small businesses was around 10 percent below the long-term average. According to preliminary calculations, electricity generation from natural gas fell by around 4 percent, and district heating production fell by a good 2 percent.

Hard coal consumption fell by 10.8 percent in the first half of the year. Use in power plants saw a decline of almost 19 percent. Changes in fuel prices and reduced demand for electricity led to a reduction in the use of coal in power plants. Sales of hard coal to the iron and steel industry fell by 2 percent in the reporting period. It showed that carbon-intensive oxygen steel production only fell by 1.7 percent, while electric steel production fell by 13 percent because high domestic industrial electricity prices are not competitive in international comparison.

Brown coal consumption fell by around 18 percent. This decline largely corresponds to the development of deliveries to public power plants and is mainly due to the significantly reduced domestic electricity consumption and favorable generation conditions in neighboring countries. Despite the steep decline, lignite remained the second most important electricity generation in Germany, with a share of almost 18 percent, after renewables.

Nuclear power generation fell by 57 percent in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year. The decline in production is due to the extended operation of the last three nuclear power plants in Germany (Neckarwestheim 2, Emsland and Isar 2) and their final decommissioning on April 15, 2023.

Electricity deliveries abroad in the first half of the year were 3.1 billion kilowatt hours (billion kWh) higher than the amounts of electricity that flowed to Germany from abroad. In the first half of the previous year, the electricity exchange balance was 17.3 billion kWh. In the second quarter of the current year, Germany developed into a net importer with an import surplus of 6.4 billion kWh. Germany's higher import balance is seen as a sign of a functioning European internal electricity market. Germany was able to partially benefit from cheaper generation options in neighboring countries. In addition, there were weather conditions that temporarily led to higher electricity generation from hydropower in the Alpine region and Scandinavia. In addition, the expansion of renewable energies in other European countries is progressing and increasing supply. Ultimately, the decommissioning of the last three nuclear power plants in Germany and the higher availability of nuclear energy in France compared to the previous year are also reasons for the import surplus in the second quarter of 2023.

The contribution of renewable energies increased slightly by 0.6 percent in the first half of 2023. Electricity generation from renewable energy sources fell slightly by 1 percent. The provision of heat increased by 5 percent and in the transport sector there was an increase of 3 percent.

The somewhat less favorable weather compared to the previous year resulted in slight declines in both photovoltaics (-1 percent) and wind power generation (-3 percent). Electricity generation from biomass fell by 4 percent. In hydropower, however, there was an increase of 9 percent. The Energy Balances AG assumes that the environmental heat made usable by heat pumps increased by around 13 percent and the use of wood by private households as well as in the commercial and service sectors grew by around 7 percent in the first half of 2023.

According to a preliminary estimate by AG Energy Balances, energy-related CO₂ emissions fell by more than eight percent in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year. This corresponds to a reduction of the order of 28 million tons (million t).

Consumers and industry are reacting to high energy prices

Development of primary energy consumption in the first half of 2023

Changes in percent – ​​Total 5,561 PJ or 189.7 million tce

Consumers and industry react to high energy prices - Image: Working Group on Energy Balances

Primary energy consumption in the first half of 2023 fell by 7.1 percent to 5,561 petajoules (PJ) or 189.7 million tons of hard coal equivalents (million tce) compared to the first half of the previous year. The decline affected all energy sources with the exception of renewables. The persistently high price level ensured increased consumption savings and investments in energy efficiency. There were production cuts in industry. The contribution of nuclear energy fell because the three remaining power plant blocks have now finally been taken off the grid after extension operation.

Shifts in the energy mix

Structure of primary energy consumption in Germany

1st half of 2023 – total 5,561 PJ or 189.7 million tce

Shares in percent (previous year period in brackets)

Shifts in the energy mix – Image: Energy Balances Working Group

The decline in domestic energy consumption in the first six months of 2023 by more than 7 percent as well as different consumption trends for the individual energy sources have led to changes in the energy source mix. Renewables and mineral oil increased their shares. In contrast, there were declines in the share of hard coal, lignite and natural gas as a result of reductions in consumption that were significantly higher than the overall decline. Nuclear energy still made a small contribution due to the temporary extension operation of the three remaining power plant blocks. There was an increase in the share of other energy sources, including the electricity exchange balance, because Germany imported more electricity on balance in the second quarter of 2023 than it exported to neighboring countries.

Source: press release