Germany’s renewable power share jumps to 47 percent in first five months of year

Germany’s share of renewable energy in net public electricity generation rose to 47 percent in the first five months of 2019, reports Giles Parkinson in Renew Economy on the basis of data by research institute Fraunhofer ISE. In May, renewables even reached a share of 50.7 percent. While wind output rose strongly between January and May compared to the same period a year earlier, lignite and hard coal each fell roughly 20 percent.

Fraunhofer ISE’s Energy Charts project does not include data on the amount of power the generating facilities consume themselves to operate, or the power German industry produces and consumes without it being fed into the public grid. Fraunhofer ISE says their data represents the power mix that actually supplies German homes. Germany aims to cover between 40 and 45 percent of gross power consumption with renewables and at least 65 percent of demand by 2030. In 2018, renewables share reached 37.8 percent.