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Renewable share of German power use climbs to 52.3% in first half

Renewable energy accounted for 52.3% of Germany's power consumption in the first six months of the year, up 3.1 points from a year earlier, on higher solar production and lower overall electricity usage, data showed on Tuesday. That was up from a renewable share of 49.2% in the first six months of 2022, according to utility group BDEW and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW).

Germany wants green power from solar, wind, biomass and hydroelectric generation to account for 80% of its energy mix by 2030, as it abandons nuclear power and aims to cut most of its coal generation and use gas plants mostly for grid back-up. 

The preliminary figures showed higher photovoltaic production in May and June, due to favourable weather. They also reflected far lower power consumption in the first half of 2023 when electricity usage fell 6.5% year-on-year to 262.8 terawatt hours (TWh), BDEW noted in a statement. The data was calculated under a European Union requirement to base the green share on usage rather than production, a method adopted by the Berlin government for its climate targets, BDEW said.

Domestic electricity production fell 10.8% to 265.9 TWh in the six-month period, including production for export, the data showed. Renewables, at 137.5 TWh, represented 51.7% of total output, up from 46.4% in first half 2022, even as green power production volumes decreased by 0.6%. [emp]