Renewables covered just over half of Germany’s gross power consumption in the first quarter of 2020, an “all-time high”, according to the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW).
The 52% figure, compared with 44.4% in the same period in 2019, was due to “record winds in February, followed by an unusually sunny March”.
The agency compiled the data with the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wurttemberg (ZSW).
Power consumption fell by 1%, compared with the same period last year, which BDEW and ZSW attributed to the “relatively weak” economy and a decline in industrial production in the last week of March caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The share of renewables in the first quarter of this year was given a further boost following the closure of of 2.1GW of nuclear and coal-fired generation in late 2019.
BDEW said: “These factors converged to create the conditions for renewable sources to furnish more than half of the power consumed in the first three months.”
It noted these were “special circumstances” and added, “it remains to be seen if the trend will continue throughout 2020, especially since the first quarter regularly shows a higher renewables share due to weather conditions”.
BDEW board of management chairwoman Kerstin Andreae said: “The performance of renewables is very encouraging. However, we should always bear in mind that this is only a snapshot and includes many one-off events.
“The record figures stand in sharp contrast to the dramatic situation in the current expansion of wind and solar photovoltaic systems. If obstacles and caps are not removed quickly, the 65% target by 2030 will hardly be achievable.”
She said the “difficult” economic situation further intensifies the pressure to act.
“It must be ensured that further investments are made in the expansion of renewables so that they can guarantee the energy supply of tomorrow,” Andreae added.
Germany generated nearly 158 billion kilowatt-hours of gross power in the first quarter of 2020, down almost 7% from the same period last year.
Consumption stood at 148 billion kWh, compared with 151 billion kWh in the first quarter of 2019, BDEW and ZSW found.
Solar, wind and other renewable sources collectively produced around 77 billion kWh of electricity, compared with 67.1 billion kWh in the same period in 2019.
Onshore wind accounted for nearly 43 billion kWh, offshore wind produced 9 billion kWh. Biomass supplied 11 billion kWh and solar 7 billion kWh.
The 1400MW Philippsburg 2 nuclear power station was disconnected from the grid and lignite-fired power stations with a collective capacity 760MW were taken offline in late 2019.