Renewables cover less than 50 percent of electricity consumption

24.04.2025

Source: E & M powernews

In the first quarter of 2024, renewable energies still covered 56% of German electricity consumption. The share will fall significantly in 2025.

63.5 billion kWh of electricity was generated from renewable energy sources in Germany in the first quarter of 2025. At a forecast 135.3 billion kWh, gross electricity consumption was probably roughly on a par with the previous year (135.4 billion kWh). However, 75.9 billion kWh could still be generated from renewable sources between January and March 2024.

The share of electricity generated from photovoltaics, wind, biomass and other renewable energy sources in gross electricity consumption therefore fell from 56% to around 47%. This is the result of preliminary calculations by the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).

In a joint statement, ZSW and BDEW attribute the decline primarily to weather conditions. In the windless months of February and March, electricity generation from wind power fell significantly, dropping by 31 percent at sea and 22 percent on land compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In total, wind turbines generated 33.3 billion kWh of electricity in the first quarter. This is around 14 billion kWh less than in the same period last year. This is despite the fact that the number of wind turbines has increased significantly: since April 2024, a total of 872 wind turbines with an output of 4,300 MW have been added.

Due to the lack of rain as well as wind, there was also a significant decline in hydropower compared to the previous year: This contributed 4.2 billion kWh of electricity to power generation. This is 26 percent less than in the same period last year, which, however, saw exceptionally high levels of precipitation. Electricity generation from hydropower thus corresponds to the first quarter of 2023 and covers around three percent of electricity consumption in Germany.

PV plus cannot compensate for lack of wind

The situation is different for photovoltaics: According to ZSW and BDEW, the further expansion of solar installations and an above-average sunny March led to a noticeable increase in solar power generation. With an increase of 3.2 billion kWh compared to the same period last year, PV generation rose by around 32 percent in the first quarter, covering 10 percent of electricity consumption in Germany. However, this is not enough to compensate for the decline in wind energy.

In view of these figures, Kerstin Andreae, Chairwoman of the BDEW Executive Board, referred to the need to drive forward the expansion of storage options, flexibility and controllable hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants in addition to the expansion of renewables. "To this end, the new German government must introduce a new law with reliable investment incentives in the first 100 days in order to initiate the rapid expansion of controllable power plant capacities."

Prof. Dr. Frithjof Staiß, Managing Director of the ZSW, reiterated this demand: "In order to ensure security of supply at all times despite weather-dependent and seasonal fluctuations, the dynamic expansion of renewables must be accompanied by a similar expansion of infrastructure and flexibility options." Green hydrogen in particular has a key role to play here: it utilizes renewable electricity peaks, stores energy on a short-term or seasonal basis and supports the electricity system in combination with flexible hydrogen power plants. "It is also the greenhouse gas-neutral fuel and raw material that is needed for the transformation of industry and parts of the transport sector," Staiß continued. The new German government urgently needs to step up expansion in this area.

Author: Katia Meyer-Tien