WIESBADEN (dpa-AFX) - Wind power replaced coal as the most important source of energy for electricity generation in Germany last year. Almost a third (31 percent) of the electricity generated in Germany came from wind power, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Thursday. The amount of electricity fed into the grid from wind power reached a new high of 139.3 billion kilowatt hours in 2023.

According to the Wiesbaden-based statisticians, 2023 was also the first year in which more electricity was fed into the grid from renewable energies such as wind, water and solar power than from conventional energy sources such as coal, natural gas and nuclear power in almost all months. The share of renewable energies reached a high of 251.8 billion kilowatt hours and accounted for 56% of the total volume. In 2023, a total of 449.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity were generated in Germany and fed into the grid.

In 2022, coal was still the most important energy source with a 33.2% share of the electricity fed into the grid, while wind power's share of electricity generation was significantly lower at 24%. However, coal remained the second most important energy source for electricity generation in Germany last year, despite its share of total generation falling to 26.1%.

In 2022, the share of renewable energies was still 46.3%. The statisticians explained the significant increase in wind energy by the fact that there was plenty of wind and capacities were expanded. The fact that the total amount of electricity generated fell - by 11.8% compared to the previous year - also had an impact on the quotas. The reasons for this: demand in energy-intensive industries was lower due to the weak economy, while the amount of electricity imported from abroad rose significantly by 40.6 percent to 69.3 billion kilowatt hours./ben/DP/mis