European power generation
Electricity is physically exchanged with nine direct neighbouring countries – Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Sweden (via a submarine cable). Germany exported around 80.7 billion kWh of electricity to its neighbours in 2016, while itself importing 27.0 billion kWh.
Germany has the highest installed power plant capacity in Europe and also generates and consumes the most electricity. Further information on the energy data of the countries of Europe can be found on the website of Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union.
National power generation
The Federal Network Agency's (BNetzA) list of power plants .maps the power generation market in Germany. Currently (as at 7 November 2017) there are generating facilities with a net rating totalling 209.2 gigawatts (GW). Of this net rating, renewable energy sources account for about 104.5 GW; of this, approx. 40.7 GW is from solar and about 49.6 GW from wind power. The installed capacity of photovoltaic and wind power units together adds up to around 90 GW.
However, this capacity is not the same as the output available on the electricity market to meet demand at any given time, as the latter depends on the weather conditions. In order to ensure that the electricity supply remains secure when there is no wind or sun, electricity from conventional power stations is used.
SMARD keeps users updated on current developments in the electricity market
SMARD, the new electricity market platform, provides information on the electricity market in a form that is transparent, easy-to-understand and well-structured.
The website www.SMARD.de (in german) presents key electricity market data for Germany and specific statistics for Europe almost in real time. Information on electricity generation and consumption, wholesale trade prices, imports and exports, and balancing energy can be found, combined, and downloaded for various periods of time. The data are presented in a user-friendly format. The platform also offers comprehensive analysis functions for experts. This allows users to follow developments in the electricity market and stay up-to-date on the energy transition and its progress.
Renewables becoming ever more important in electricity generation
In 2016, 188 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity were generated from renewable energy sources, attaining a 31.7% share of gross electricity consumption.
The electricity mix is changing
In Germany around 648 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity were generated in 2016 – that is 648 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh). In view of an increasing contribution from renewable energy, the share of nuclear energy, lignite and hard coal in the energy sources mix in the German power supply is falling.
Energy sources | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 [1] | ||||||
bn kWh | % | bn kWh | % | bn kWh | % | bn kWh | % | bn kWh | % | ||
Total gross electricity generation | 628,6 | 100 | 637,7 | 100 | 626,7 | 100 | 646,9 | 100 | 648,2 | 100 | |
Lignite | 160,7 | 25,6 | 160,9 | 25,2 | 155,8 | 24,9 | 154,5 | 23,9 | 150,0 | 23,1 | |
Nuclear energy | 99,5 | 15,8 | 97,3 | 15,3 | 97,1 | 15,5 | 91,8 | 14,2 | 84,6 | 13,0 | |
Hard coal | 116,4 | 18,5 | 127,3 [5] | 20,0 | 118,6 | 18,9 | 117,70 | 18,2 | 111,5 | 17,2 | |
Natural gas | 76,4 | 12,2 | 67,5 | 10,6 | 61,1 | 9,7 | 62,0 | 9,6 | 80,5 | 12,4 | |
Petroleum | 7,6 | 1,2 | 7,2 | 1,1 | 5,7 | 0,9 | 6,2 | 1,0 | 5,9 | 0,9 | |
Renewable energy | 142,3 | 22,6 | 151,3 | 23,7 | 161,4 | 25,8 | 187,4 | 29,0 | 188,3 | 29,0 | |
Onshore wind | 50,7 | 8,1 | 50,8 | 8,0 | 55,9 | 8,9 | 70,9 | 11,0 | 65,0 | 10,0 | |
Offshore wind | 0,9 | 0,1 | 1,4 | 0,2 | 8,3 | 1,3 | 12,4 | 1,9 | |||
Hydropower [2] | 22,1 | 3,5 | 23,0 | 3,6 | 19,6 | 3,1 | 19,0 | 2,9 | 21,0 | 3,2 | |
Biomass | 38,2 | 6,1 | 40,1 | 6,3 | 42,2 | 6,7 | 44,6 | 6,9 | 45,6 | 7,0 | |
Photovoltaics | 26,4 | 4,2 | 31,0 | 4,9 | 36,1 | 5,8 | 38,7 | 6,0 | 38,2 | 5,9 | |
Domestic refuse [3] | 5,0 | 0,8 | 5,4 | 0,8 | 6,1 | 1,0 | 5,8 | 0,9 | 6,0 | 0,9 | |
Other energy sources | 25,7 | 4,1 | 26,2 | 4,1 | 27,0 | 4,3 | 27,3 | 4,2 | 27,5 | 4,2 | |
Balance of electricity exchange with other countries | -23,1 | -33,8 | -35,6 | 51,8 | -53,7 | ||||||
Gross electricity consumption in Germany [4] | 605,6 | 603,9 | 591,1 | 595,1 | 594,7 |
1) Preliminary figures inc. some estimates.
2) Generation in run-of-river and reservoir power plants and from natural inflow into pumped-storage power plants
3) Only generation from biogenic waste (approx. 50%).
4) Including grid losses and in-house consumption
5) 5.6 TWh higher than official statistics. Subsequent correction in 2015 not taken into account in official statistics for 2013.
Sources: Federal Statistical Office, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), Statistik der Kohlenwirtschaft e.V (an organisation tasked with providing the Government with statistics from the coal industry), Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW), Working Group on Energy Balances.