Germany nearly halves fossil fuel use for electricity between 2018 and 2026
Clean Energy Wire
Germany has almost halved its use of fossil fuels for electricity generation in the past eight years, which fell from 174.6 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in the first half of 2018 to 94.2 billion kWh in the first half of 2026, the country’s statistical office (Destatis) has said. “A clear change becomes visible in the long-term trend of domestic electricity production,” Destatis said, adding that renewable energy sources increased their output by about one quarter during the same period.
Almost 60 percent (59.1%) of the electricity produced in Germany between January and June 2026 came from renewable power sources, an increase of 6.5 percent versus the same period in 2025. Wind power, Germany’s single largest electricity source, jumped 12.3 percent to 67.7 billion kWh, a rebound largely attributed to an unusually calm first half of 2025. Renewable energy sources surpassed fossil fuels in the electricity sector already in 2023. In the first half of this year, they fed more electricity into the grid than fossil fuel plants in every month except January, Destatis added.
Against the backdrop of debates about a greater reliance on coal due to the war in Iran, coal power production continued to decline by 0.5 percent to 49.4 billion kWh. However, coal remained the second most important electricity source after wind power, with a share of 21.4 percent and 29.4 percent, respectively. The use of natural gas, on the other hand, increased 6.4 percent to 38 billion kWh and reached a share of 16.5 percent in power production, meaning it ranked fourth after solar power, which reached a share of 17.8 percent.
Total electricity production in Germany increased 4.5 percent in the first six months of the year to 230.6 billion kWh. Electricity imports dropped 8.7 percent to 34.5 billion kWh, while exports grew 14.9 percent to 33.9 billion kWh.
Germany plans to fully phase out coal power no later than 2038, while many observers say an earlier end date is likely given the rising cost of using the carbon-intensive fossil fuel. For natural gas, on the other hand, the country does not yet have a clear phase-out concept and instead plans to build many new gas-fired power plants as backup for its renewable energy sources.