Hello, I’m Yves. In this post I am highlighting the fact that the apparent improvement in Germany’s green transition is not as good as it seems. Although the share of total energy consumption from renewable sources has increased, the improvement seems to be mainly due to a decrease in industrial demand. The year-on-year increase in clean energy production has been relatively slow.
Interestingly, the article acknowledges that rising energy costs are to blame for the decline in manufacturing output, but strangely makes no mention of the destruction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and Russian sanctions as to why. Meanwhile, OilPrice is also making headlines today with another article: Europe’s reliance on Russian gas continues despite sanctions.
Tsvetana Paraskova is a writer for Oilprice.com with over 10 years of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. Oil prices
- Germany is making progress in increasing the share of renewable energy sources in its electricity supply.
- The large reduction in fossil fuel generation was mainly due to a decline in total electricity generation.
- Power grids have become greener and emissions from the power sector have fallen, but the move has been driven mainly by sluggish economic growth and weakening industry in Europe’s largest economy.
Germany has made progress in increasing the share of renewable energy sources in its electricity supply, but this progress, due in large part to weakening electricity demand due to slowing industrial activity, should be celebrated with a sense of caution.
Power companies have sharply cut their total generation from fossil fuels so far this year, but the cuts have not been offset by a similar surge in generation from renewable sources, suggesting that weak electricity demand is to blame for the decline in total generation and the fall in fossil fuel generation in Europe’s largest economy.
German power producers reported a 19% drop in fossil fuel-based electricity production in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2023, according to LSEG data cited by a Reuters columnist. Gavin Maguire.
However, electricity generation from renewable sources increased by only 2.1%.
The significant reduction in fossil fuel generation is mainly due to a decline in electricity demand due to sluggish industrial activity, which led to a 6% decrease in total electricity generation in the first six months of 2024 compared to the previous year.
That rebound in activity could boost electricity demand in Germany and force German utilities to turn to more natural-gas-fired generation, offsetting some of the progress made in bringing clean energy to the grid.
Wind power overtook coal to become Germany’s largest source of electricity last year, according to a clean energy think tank. Ember.
Germany relied on fossil fuels for 46 percent of its electricity last year, with wind being the largest source, accounting for 27.2 percent, ahead of coal at 26.8 percent.
Since 2015, declines in Germany’s nuclear power (which is phased out in 2023) and coal-fired generation have been mainly compensated for by increases in wind and solar power, net electricity imports and gas-fired generation, says Enver’s 2024 European Electricity Review. Indicated Earlier this year.
Germany installed All-time high Solar and wind capacity is expected to increase in 2023, but only solar additions met government targets, while wind installations missed the mark. New solar capacity is on track to meet the government’s 2030 target. Wind also saw an increase in wind tenders, with a record 6.4 GW of capacity awarded last year, according to data from wind energy association BWE. Indicated This is expected to be achieved by the end of 2023. Unfortunately, the annual target of 10 GW was not reached.
The share of renewable energy sources in Germany’s total electricity generation will reach 53% in 2023, up from 44% in 2022, but the country needs to accelerate the introduction of solar, wind and battery storage capacity to ensure that renewables account for 80% of electricity generation by 2030.
Power grids have become greener and emissions from the power sector have fallen, but the move has been driven mainly by sluggish economic growth and weakening industry in Europe’s largest economy.
High energy costs have been the main reason for the decline in manufacturing and industrial activity in Germany over the past two years, with energy-intensive industries, especially the chemical and fertilizer industries, being hit hardest.
“No industry has been more affected by the ‘new energy world’ (lower gas imports compared to pre-war times, the US and China and rising energy prices) than the chemical industry,” Deutsche Bank Research said. Said In February, he said the decline in German industrial production was “not over yet.”
The Federation of German Industry (BDI) is also not optimistic in the short term.
German manufacturing output fell by more than 7% in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared with the second half of 2019, before the pandemic hit, an industry group said. report The BDI expects German industrial production to continue to decline, falling by a further 1.5 percent year-on-year in 2024. Over the past two years, industrial production had fallen by 0.5 percent per year.
“German industry has lost almost a decade’s worth of production growth,” the BDI said.
The industrial downturn, partly due to rising energy costs, is leading to lower electricity consumption in Germany. When industrial activity recovers, German utilities may have to ramp up fossil-fuel-fired power plants to meet demand.
