In the first half of this year, wind power was the most important energy source for electricity in Germany. Electricity generation from wind fell by 1.2 percent in absolute terms in the first six months of 2023 compared to the same period last year, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Wednesday. However, due to lower overall electricity generation, the share of wind energy in domestically generated electricity nevertheless rose from 25.6 percent in the first half of 2022 to 28.6 percent in the same period of 2023.
The electricity feed-in from photovoltaics also fell by 5.9 percent, but their share of the total feed-in also increased, to 11.9 percent (11.2 percent in the first half of 2022). According to the statisticians, the decline in photovoltaics can be explained primarily by the unusually large number of hours of sunshine in the first three months of 2022. The majority of the electricity generated in Germany and fed into the grid in the first half of 2023 came from renewable energy sources at 53.4 percent. In the same period of the previous year, the share was 48.4 percent.
The share of coal decreases significantly
There was a trend reversal in energy generation from coal combustion: after coal was still the most important energy source in electricity generation in the first half of 2022, its share fell by almost a quarter (23.3 percent) to one in the first six months of this year share of 27.1 percent in total electricity generation. In contrast, electricity generation from natural gas increased by 3.8 percent between the beginning of the year and the end of June this year to a 13.9 percent share of the electricity mix.
Due to the shutdown of the last three nuclear power plants on April 15, 2023, the proportion of nuclear power in the first half of the year was only 2.9 percent of domestic electricity generation, while this proportion was still 6.0 percent in the first half of 2022. The loss of nuclear energy was mainly offset by increased electricity imports. The import of electricity generated abroad increased significantly (plus 30.8 percent). Nevertheless, German electricity exports, at 32.6 billion kilowatt hours, exceeded electricity imports (30.6 billion kilowatt hours).