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2021 was a year with relatively little wind, which affects electricity generation
Photo: Fabian Strauch / dpa
The share of renewable energies in German electricity generation has decreased in the current year.
According to preliminary figures from the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW), renewable energies made up 40.9 percent of the gross electricity generation of 582 billion kilowatt hours in this country.
In the previous year, their share was 44.1 percent.
Onshore power generation from wind turbines plummeted by 12 percent, according to BDEW.
At the same time, the importance of lignite and hard coal as well as mineral oil products grew.
Their share in electricity generation was according to the information at 18.6 percent, 9.3 percent and 11.9 percent.
According to BDEW, electricity generation from lignite has increased by 18 percent, and that from hard coal by as much as 26.7 percent.
The numbers are related to the wind conditions.
According to the German Brown Coal Industry Association (DEBRIV), the figures are also due to the fact that 2020 was unusually windy as a comparison year.
In contrast, there was comparatively little wind in 2021.
Nevertheless, the share of electricity production for 2021 is higher than that for 2019.
"Coal phase-out in total running"
The BDEW managing director, Kerstin Andreae, was also optimistic about an exit from coal by 2030. The CO2 emissions of the power plants were below the specified limit in 2021.
"The coal phase-out is running," said Andreae.
In order to forego coal-based electricity entirely in 2030, however, renewable energies would have to be expanded significantly more.
Andreae pointed out that the pace of expanding renewables would have to be tripled for the targeted coal phase-out by 2030.
The traffic light coalition had agreed that their share of consumption should increase to 80 percent by 2030.
In addition, new gas-fired power plants are needed against the background that the last German nuclear power plant is to go offline in 2022, said Andreae.
Here you have to see the emissions over the lifetime of the gas power plants.
They could initially run on fossil gas and later on green hydrogen.
Nuclear energy currently still has a share of around twelve percent in electricity generation.
hba / dpa / Reuters