01/03/2024
Source: Energy & Management Powernews
Net public electricity generation reached a record share of renewable energies in 2023. This is according to figures from the Fraunhofer Institute.
According to an analysis presented by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE on January 2, the share of renewable energies in 2023 was 59.7 percent, while the share of load was 57.1 percent. New records were set for wind and solar power in 2023. In contrast, generation from lignite (-27%) and hard coal (-35%) fell sharply. Photovoltaics stood out in the expansion of generation capacity: at around 14,000 MW, the expansion was in double figures for the first time and significantly exceeded the German government's statutory climate protection target.
Wind power was once again the most important source of electricity in 2023, contributing 139.8 billion kWh or 32% to public electricity generation. This was 14.1 percent higher than the previous year's production. The share of onshore wind rose to 115.3 billion kWh (2022: 99 billion kWh), while offshore production fell slightly to 23.5 billion kWh (2022: 24.75 billion kWh). The expansion of wind energy continues to lag behind the plan: by November, 2,700 MW had been newly installed onshore, compared to the planned 4,000 MW. The expansion of offshore plants is even slower due to the necessary tenders and long construction times. Only 230 MW were newly installed here in 2023 (planned: 700 MW).
Photovoltaic systems generated around 59.9 billion kWh in 2023, of which 53.5 billion kWh were fed into the public grid and 6.4 billion kWh were consumed by the plants themselves. At around 9 billion kWh, June 2023 was the month with the highest solar power generation ever. Photovoltaic expansion in 2023 significantly exceeded the German government's targets: instead of the planned 9,000 MW, 13,200 MW were installed by November. (Further report to follow).
Hydropower increased compared to 2022: from 17.5 billion kWh to 20.5 billion kWh. The installed capacity of 4,940 MW has hardly changed compared to previous years. At 42.3 billion kWh, biomass was at the same level as in 2022 (42.2 billion kWh). The installed capacity is 9,000 MW.
In total, renewable sources produced around 260 billion kWh in 2023, around 7.2% more than in the previous year (242 billion kWh). The share of renewable energy generated in Germany in the load, i.e. the electricity mix that actually comes out of the socket, was 57.1% compared to 50.2% in 2022.
Coal-fired electricity fell sharply
After German coal-fired power plants ramped up their production in 2022 - partly due to the outage of French nuclear power plants, but also due to the upheavals in the electricity market caused by the war in Ukraine - their share fell significantly in 2023. As a result of the drop in coal-fired electricity exports, but also due to the good wind conditions, generation in November 2023 was around 27% below the same month in the previous year.
The use of natural gas to generate electricity remained slightly below the previous year's level at 45.8 billion kWh for the public electricity supply. Due to the shutdown of the last three nuclear power plants Emsland, Neckarwestheim and Isar on April 15, 2023, nuclear power only contributed 6.72 billion kWh to electricity generation, which corresponds to a share of 1.5 percent.
Battery storage systems are developing rapidly
With the expansion of fluctuating renewable energies, the need for grid expansion and storage capacity is also increasing. Battery storage systems that are installed decentrally to buffer the generation of wind and solar power are particularly suitable. The private household segment is showing strong growth, as is the case with photovoltaic systems. Overall, installed battery capacity almost doubled from 4,400 MW in 2022 to 7,600 MW in 2023, while storage capacity rose from 6.5 million kWh to 11.2 million kWh. The capacity of German pumped storage plants is around 6,000 MW.
Exports and exchange electricity price declining
After an export surplus of 27.1 billion kWh was achieved in electricity trading in 2022, an import surplus of 11.7 billion kWh was recorded in 2023. This was mainly due to the lower electricity generation costs in neighboring European countries in the summer and the high cost of CO2 certificates. The majority of imports came from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Germany exported electricity to Austria and Luxembourg.
In winter, exchange electricity prices rose again and CO2 certificates became cheaper. This led to a balance in November and, in conjunction with high wind power generation, to export surpluses in December. In contrast to its neighboring countries (Austria, Switzerland, France), Germany also has sufficient power plant capacity in winter to produce electricity for export.
The average volume-weighted day-ahead exchange electricity price fell sharply to EUR 92.29/MWh. In 2022, it was €230.57/MWh). This puts it back at the 2021 level.
A detailed presentation of the data on electricity generation, imports/exports, prices, installed capacity, emissions and climate data can be found on the Energy Charts Server. Hourly updated data on electricity generation is also available online.
Author: Günter Drewnitzky
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