Renewables hit new record in 2012

Renewable energy has become Germany's second-most important energy source, surpassing nuclear and coal and ranking just behind lignite in 2012's energy mix.

The share of renewable energy sources in Germany's overall electricity consumption rose to an annual record of 23% for 2012, up from 20% in 2011, BDEW said based on a first estimate.

The figure is slightly down from the first half of the year when renewables contributed more than 25% to the energy mix for the first time ever.

Renewable production reached a milestone on September 14 when combined wind and solar output rose above 31 GW for the first time ever, according to real-time generation data from EEX, equaling conventional plant production for a number of hours.

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Broken down by source, BDEW data shows that wind power remains Germany's most important generator of renewable energy despite its share decreasing to 8% in 2012.

Estimated output was around 45 TWh last year, down from 48.9 TWh in 2011.

Solar PV extended its share to around 5%, just behind biomass at around 6% with hydro-power at around 3% and power from waste at around 1%. According to the BDEW data, annual solar output will rise 48% to 28.5 TWh in 2012.

Solar becomes largest energy source by installed capacity

While still a comparatively minor contributor in terms of total generation, solar PV in 2012 became Germany's single biggest energy source by installed capacity, reaching almost 32 GW.

Solar output is beginning to make a real impact on peakload power prices and the operational hours of conventional plants.

On May 25 solar output peaked at 22.4 GW during midday hours, which saw the day-ahead peakload prices fall below the baseload prices with Epex Spot settling peak at Eur27.31/MWh and base at Eur28.89/MWh.

There were 19 days when peakload prices turned out below baseload during the second quarter, generally the quarter with the most hours of sunshine. This compares with nine in 2011 and just five in 2010.

Germany's installed renewable power capacity is set to rise to 111 GW by 2017, a forecast by the country's transmission system operators showed in November.

The overwhelming majority of this will be solar (55 GW) and wind (47 GW).

For 2013, the forecast estimates 134 TWh of renewable output -- up from a 125 TWh 2013 estimate in the previous forecast from 80 GW of installed capacity, with solar seen at 39 GW and wind at 33.5 GW by the end of the year.

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