German renewables lead power mix for first time with 25.8% share

London (Platts)--29Dec2014/1218 pm EST/1718 GMT

Germany's renewable power output has reached a new record in 2014, contributing more than a quarter to the nation's electricity demand and output and topping the power mix for the first time ever, energy industry association BDEW said Monday.

Based on a first estimate, power output from renewable sources rose to 157.4 TWh, up 3.3% from the 152.4 TWh generated in 2013 by wind, biomass, solar, hydro and other renewables, the BDEW said in a statement.

Overall, power generation dropped to 610.4 TWh, down 3.6% from 633.2 TWh in 2013, it added.

That means that renewables increased their share in power generation to 25.8%, up from 24.1% a year ago, overtaking domestic lignite coal (25.6%) as the country's biggest source of electricity, the BDEW said.

Germany's wind turbines increased their output by an estimated 1% to 52.4 TWh, solar PV output rose 14% on the year to 35.2 TWh, while biomass increased its output by 5% to 48.9 TWh, the BDEW estimates. Hydro generation amounted to 20.8 TWh in 2014, it said, without giving further details.

GAS SHARE IN POWER MIX DROPS BELOW 10%

The continued rise in renewables output again comes at the cost of hard coal and gas-fired power generation, whose combined share dropped to its lowest level since at least 1990.

Coal-fired power plants generated some 11.8 TWh or around 10% less than in 2013, with total 2014 output estimated at 109.9 TWh, the BDEW said.

Output from gas-fired power plants dropped 13% on the year to 58.5 TWh, it said.

The share of coal (excluding lignite) in the power mix dropped from 19.2% to 18% for 2014, the lowest level since German unification in 1990.

The share of gas in the German power mix dropped to its lowest level since 2002, down to 9.7% from 10.7% in 2013.

Lignite-fired power plants increased their share in power generation to 25.6%, the highest level since 2004, the data shows.

Nuclear power plants increased their share to 15.9%, it added. Germany's nuclear phase-out will continue in 2015 with the decommissioning of the first of the country's remaining nine modern nuclear reactors.

BDEW is the German energy industry's federal lobby group, which has around 1,800 member companies representing about 90% of Germany's power and gas market.

--Andreas Franke, andreas.franke@platts.com  --Edited by Jonathan Fox, jonathan.fox@platts.com

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