more than half of the country’s electricity production will come from renewable energy in 2023

This is what the German energy regulator said on Wednesday. The share of coal is declining but remains significant, standing at 26%.

An unprecedented observation. Renewable energies have for the first time covered more than half of electricity production in Germany in 2023, the German energy regulator (Bundesnetzagentur) announced in a press release on Wednesday January 3.

The share of electricity produced from renewables stood at 55% last year, after 48.42% in 2022. Wind turbines contributed the most, with a share of 31% in the electricity mix for installations on land and at sea. Photovoltaics represented 12% of production and biomass around 8%.

The share of coal is declining but remains significant: it stands at 26% of the production mix, compared to nearly 34% last year. Germany then increased its recourse against a backdrop of a halt to Russian gas deliveries due to the war in Ukraine, even though global warming is notably linked to the use of fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas).

Use of gas on the rise

The exit from coal constitutes the main challenge of the energy transition led by Europe’s largest economy. The German government plans to achieve 80% renewable electricity in gross electricity consumption by 2030, a goal considered ambitious. If the production of electricity from coal has fallen sharply (-36.8% for hard coal and -24.8% for lignite), the use of gas has increased by more than 31%.

During COP28, Emmanuel Macron called on the G7 countries to “lead by example” by getting out of coal before 2030. The objective of getting out of fossil fuels “is not negotiable”pleaded the French president, at the end of December, in a forum.

The share of nuclear power in production (6% in 2022) is minimal after the closure in the spring of the country’s last three reactors.