For the first time in German history, the share of electricity produced from renewable sources exceeded 50 percent of the total national gross consumption. These are the preliminary results of the analysis made for 2023 by the Baden-Württemberg Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Center (ZSW) and the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry (BDEW). The Federal Bureau of Statistics confirmed these figures, and according to their data, this share amounts to about 52% and represents an increase of 5 percentage points compared to the previous year.
In terms of production level, July (59%) and May (57%) led the way, and due to the increase in newly installed systems, October and November also reached a share of 55% in total consumption.
In June, photovoltaic generation reached an all-time high of 9.8 billion kilowatt hours. On an annual level, solar panels also produced the most energy in history, 62 billion kilowatt hours, representing an increase of 3 billion kilowatt hours compared to 2022. For comparison, all German hydroelectric power plants produced three times less electricity in 2023, i.e. 18.7 billion kilowatt hours.
According to data from BDEW and ZSW, the share of renewable energy sources in gross production significantly increased - from 44% in 2022 to as much as 53% in 2023.