Germany reduced electricity production by 20.3% y/y in Q3

Electricity production from renewable sources increased by 8.1% y/y, while traditional electricity production fell by 42.9% y/y

In the third quarter of 2023, Germany reduced electricity production by 20.3% compared to the same period in 2022 – to 94.2 billion kWh. This is evidenced by preliminary data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

Electricity generation from renewable sources increased by 8.1% compared to the third quarter of 2022, while traditional sources decreased by 42.9% y/y. The share of renewables in total electricity generation in the third quarter reached 60.2% compared to 44.4% in the same period of 2022.

«The reasons for the drop are probably the decrease in demand for electricity due to the economic slowdown in energy-intensive industries and the increase in electricity imports from abroad,» Destatis notes.

Wind farms in Germany increased electricity generation by 16.2% y/y during this period. Their share in total electricity generation amounted to 24.4% compared to 16.8% a year earlier. Electricity generation by solar power plants increased by 6.6%, amounting to 21.5% of total output (16.1% in the third quarter of 2022).

The volume of electricity generated by coal-fired power plants in Germany in July-September 2023 fell by 47.3% y/y (23.9% of total electricity production). Following the shutdown of the last three nuclear power plants on April 15, 2023, no more electricity was generated in Germany in this way in the third quarter of 2023. Electricity consumption from natural gas increased by 9.2% y/y.

Electricity imports to Germany in the third quarter increased by 78.6% – up to 23.1 billion kWh. The most important importing countries were Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, and Switzerland. At the same time, the volume of exported electricity fell by 38.2% to 9.9 billion kWh.

As GMK Center reported earlier, inflation in Germany in November 2023, the growth rate slowed down to 3.2% compared to November 2022. In October, the indicator increased by 3.8% y/y. Thus, inflation in the country reached the lowest level since June 2021 (+2.4%).