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Coal remained the most important energy source for electricity generation in Germany in 2022, according to preliminary results published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Thursday.
Around one-third of the electricity generated in Germany came from coal-fired power plants, according to Destatis. Electricity generation from coal increased by 8.4 percent year-on-year.
"Electricity from coal-fired power plants not only recorded the highest increase among the conventional energies relevant for electricity generation in 2022, but it also helped compensate for the sharp declines in electricity generation from natural gas and nuclear energy," Destatis said.
The share of electricity generated from natural gas fell by 11.3 percent last year. This was mainly due to the "tense situation" on the gas market as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the associated sharp rise in natural gas prices, Destatis said.
In response to the energy crisis, the German government allowed coal-fired power plants to be temporarily brought out of the reserve. Despite the recent uptick in coal energy, Europe's largest economy is sticking to its goal of phasing out coal by 2030.
Wind power was the second most important energy source in Germany last year. Although 2022 was "relatively windless," the share of wind power increased by 9.4 percent year-on-year to 24.1 percent, according to Destatis.
Electricity generation from photovoltaics (PV) even increased by 19.5 percent and reached a share of 10.6 percent last year. This was due to an increase in the country's solar power capacity and to the high number of sunshine hours, according to Destatis.
China was Germany's number one supplier of PV systems, providing around 87 percent of imports in 2022, according to Destatis. Solar power systems worth around 3.1 billion euros ($3.28 billion) were imported from China last year.
The German government is seeking to increase the country's solar capacity to at least 400 gigawatts by 2040. These are "ambitious goals for the expansion of photovoltaics," Carsten Koernig, chief executive officer of the German Solar Industry Association (BSW) told Xinhua on Thursday.
The plans would "require a tripling of new solar power capacity installed annually over the next three years," Koernig said. The association expects Germany's domestic PV market to grow at a double-digit percentage rate for the seventh year in a row in 2023.
Germany aims to be climate neutral by 2045. To this end, the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption is to increase from around 44 percent in 2022 to at least 80 percent by 2030.
"In the expansion of wind and solar energy, we have passed through the valley and things are looking up again," German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck said on Thursday. "Many steps have been taken to accelerate procedures and improve investment conditions."
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- [Editor:kangmingfei]
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