In a record-breaking start to 2024, renewable energy supplied 58.4% of all electricity generated in Germany during Q1 – the highest percentage since tracking began in 2018.
Germany produced a whopping 121.5 billion kilowatt hours from renewables, an 11.6% increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, the output from fossil-fuel power sources plummeted by 25.4%, making up just 41.6% of Germany’s total electricity production.
Wind power made a notable contribution, generating an additional 5 billion kilowatt hours – up 12% from last year – and now accounts for 38.5% of the country’s electricity. Solar power also saw significant growth, increasing by 1.4 billion kilowatt hours, or 21%, and now provides 6.6% of Germany’s electricity.
“Never before has so much renewably generated energy been produced and fed into the grid in Germany,” said Thomas Grigoleit, trade & invest director of energy, building and environmental technologies. “Almost 60% climate-friendly electricity shows that the expansion of wind and solar capacities continues to bear fruit, and that Germany is on the way toward climate neutrality.”
The country aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 65% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. It’s also set interim targets to cut emissions by 88% by 2040 and achieve net zero by 2045.
Top comment by Jilles van Gurp
Worth noting that Q1 are the winter months. That's supposed to be the hard season for renewables (especially solar this far north). So breaking records in the winter months suggests the rest of the year could shatter some more records.
However, further actions need to be taken to decarbonize the transport and building sectors, as they missed their emissions targets in 2023.
Read more: We’re closer to tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030 than we look – IEA
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