Source: BDEW Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft e.V., March 28, 2022
Around 74.5 billion kilowatt hours (billion kWh) of electricity were generated from renewable energies in the first quarter of 2022, almost 25 percent more than in the same period last year. This is shown by preliminary calculations of the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).
This increase is mainly due to the favorable weather conditions at the beginning of the year for electricity generation from wind and sun. In particular, the first two months of the year were unusually windy. The stormy weather in February even made for a new record month in electricity generation from wind power, with 20.6 billion kWh. This helped renewables meet a total of 54 percent of electricity consumption in January and February (January: 47 percent, February 62 percent). March followed with above-average sunshine hours for this time of year.
"The high share of renewables in the first months of this year should not hide the fact that the expansion of renewables is proceeding far too slowly," said Kerstin Andreae, Chairwoman of BDEW's Executive Board. "The war in Ukraine and the associated concerns about energy supply in Europe are a vivid reminder of how important it is to quickly become independent of fossil fuels and thus also Russian imports. Measures to massively drive forward the expansion of renewables are more urgent than ever. We need faster planning and approval procedures and more areas for wind turbines and photovoltaic plants. It's good that the German government has announced that it will set aside two percent of Germany's land for wind power generation. But it must also be ensured that wind turbines are actually built on these areas. Far too often, projects fail in the course of the approval process."
Read the full press release here.