Germany produced greater generating capacity from renewable energy (RE) in 2017 than from more established sources for the first time, according to the Federal Network Agency and the Federal Cartel Office. The sale of the lignite coal business of Vattenfall contributed to the “de-concentrating effect” and the Federal Cartel Office expects the trend to continue in view of the sale of Eon subsidiary Uniper to Finnish competitor Fortum. The organisations’ report into the development of the country’s electricity and gas markets found renewables accounted for 112.5 GW of the country's 217.6 GW of overall capacity. In 2017, RE generated a total of 74.5 TWh – an increase of about 10 percent on 2016. Renewable sources’ share of total electricity generation increased to 36% of Germany's gross consumption of 579 TWh.
Germany produced greater generating capacity from renewable energy (RE) in 2017 than from more established sources for the first time, according to the Federal Network Agency and the Federal Cartel Office. The organisations’ report into the development of the country’s electricity and gas markets found renewables accounted for 112.5 GW of the country's 217.6 GW of overall capacity. In 2017, RE generated a total of 74.5 TWh – an increase of about 10 percent on 2016. Renewable sources’ share of total electricity generation increased to 36% of Germany's gross consumption of 579 TWh.