BERLIN, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Power production from renewable sources hit a new record high in Germany, covering 52 percent of gross domestic electricity consumption in the first quarter of 2020, the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) announced on Wednesday.
"The performance of renewables is very encouraging," stated Kerstin Andreae, managing director of BDEW, adding that "we should always bear in mind that this is only a snapshot and that many special effects are involved."
A record for wind energy in February has been followed by an "extraordinary number of sunshine hours" in March, the BDEW noted. In addition, total electricity consumption in Germany was down one percent compared to last year.
According to the BDEW, the decline in energy consumption has also been caused by a "comparatively weak economy" and the decline in industrial production in the last week of March due to the coronavirus crisis.
The shutdown of coal-fired power plants at the end of 2019 further accelerated the reduction in the feed-in of conventional energies in Germany. According to the BDEW, the combination of these factors enabled renewables to cover more than half of the country's total electricity consumption for the first time.
Around 77 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of 158 billion kWh gross electricity generated in total has been generated from sun, wind and other renewable sources in the first quarter of 2020. According to the BDEW, the biggest contributor has been onshore wind with almost 43 billion kWh, followed by biomass with around 11 billion kWh and offshore wind with nine billion kWh.
Despite a 10 billion kWh year-on-year increase in electricity generated from renewables, Andreae stressed that the record figures were "in sharp contrast to the dramatic situation in the current expansion of wind and PV (photovoltaic) plants."
Andreae warned that if "obstacles and caps" were not quickly removed, the government target of 65 percent renewables by 2030 could "hardly be reached."
