Early 2025 sees fossil sources top renewables in German power mix for first time in two years

Fossil fuel power sources made up a greater share of Germany’s public electricity mix than renewables in the first quarter of 2025 for the first time in two years, the country’s statistical office Destatis has found. With 50.5 percent, a little over half of the 119.4 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) fed into Germany’s grid between January and the end of March 2025 came from fossil sources, which increased their total output by 19.3 percent. In the first three months of 2024, the fossil share was only 41.5 percent. The output of renewables in the first quarter of 2025 decreased by 17 percent compared to last year. Their share fell from 58.5 percent to 49.5 percent. Total electricity feed-in dropped 1.9 percent year on year, Destatis said.

The drop in renewable power production was primarily down to weak wind power output, which fell 29.2 percent from early 2024 to a share of 27.8 percent. The last time Germany saw a similarly low share of wind power was in 2021, the statisticians added. However, wind turbines remained the single most important electricity source in the country. Output by solar PV installations, by contrast, increased 24.2 percent to a share of 9.2 percent in the electricity production mix.

For conventional power sources, the use of natural gas climbed 27.5 percent to a share of 20.6 percent, up from 15.8 percent in 2024. Coal-fired electricity production increased 15.3 percent, reaching a share of 27 percent, compared to 23 percent the year before. Power imports to Germany increased 14.9 percent to 19.3 billion kWh, while power exports fell 3 percent to 16.2 billion kWh.