German energy use falls in first quarter of 2019
Clean Energy Wire
German energy consumption has decreased three percent in the first three months of 2019, compared to the same period last year, writes energy market research group AG Energiebilanzen in a press release. Above-average temperatures in February and March meant Germany consumed less heating energy. Due to strong winds, power production from renewables increased significantly, so that total renewable energy consumption increased by 2 percent, compared to the first quarter 2018. Wind power also helped push hard coal out of the market, together with plant shut downs at the end of 2018, leading to a decrease of hard coal use by 15 percent. Lignite consumption fell 16 percent, due to increased renewable power generation, several plants put into Germany’s lignite reserve, and the effects of a court’s halt to the clearing of the embattled Hambach Forest on lignite mining, writes AGEB.
The data means that Germany continues its trend of decreasing energy use from 2018. Germany’s energy-related CO₂ emissions dropped by more than six percent year-on-year as the country consumed “significantly” less energy in 2018, but with a greater share of renewables.
