Solar, other renewables heading for new record in Germany

From pv magazine Germany

Renewable energy is on track to set a new record in Germany in 2020. According to new figures from Fraunhofer ISE, renewables such as solar PV and wind power have accounted for 52.4% of national electricity generation thus far this year.

Bruno Burger, a researcher for Energy Charts, said that the chances are good that renewable energy will account for more than half of all electricity generation for the full year as a whole, from around 46% for all of 2019.

“Development in 2020 depends very much on the weather,” Burger told pv magazine. “If it gets very cold, electricity consumption increases … this additional electricity is usually generated from lignite. As consumption increases, so does the price of electricity.”

More electricity will be generated from lignite coal if prices significantly surpass the CO2 price, Burger added.

“If gas prices are low, there is then a fuel switch to gas. I am assuming that the renewables share in electricity generation can remain over 50% until the end of the year,” he said.

Over the first six months of this year, the share of clean energy in the electricity mix was 55.8%. This was partly due to favorable weather conditions for solar PV arrays and wind farms.

However, the pandemic also began to play a role in shaping generation in the second quarter. The crisis triggered a decline in demand for electricity, just as some power plant operators started to cut back electricity generation from conventional sources.