Germany adds record 8 GW solar, wind capacity in H1: IWR

Germany added a record 8 GW of solar and wind power capacity in the first six months of 2023, up around two thirds year on year, think-tank IWR said, based on data from the BNEtzA registry.

Solar added some 6.5 GW new capacity, up 71% on H1 2022 with 465,000 new solar assets registered.

New wind capacity was up 77% with 350 turbines and 1.75 GW capacity added, according to IWR.

Of that, some 1.5 GW was onshore wind, while offshore wind accounted for 230 MW new capacity at one project in the Baltic Sea.

IWR did not provide data for wind farm retirements, which in 2022 amounted to 266 MW.

For the full year 2023, IWR estimated some 15 GW of new solar and wind capacity that could boost annual electricity generation by 20 TWh, it said.

North-South trends

Bavaria headed the state-by-stake ranking for solar with almost 1.6 GW added followed by North Rhine-Westphalia (1 GW) and Baden-Wuerttemberg (0.9 GW), IWR said.

For wind, Schleswig-Holstein led the ranking with 580 MW of new wind, ahead of Lower Saxony (230 MW), North Rhine-Westphalia (200 MW) and Brandenburg (150 MW).

The ranking underlined the North-South regional divide causing some grid bottlenecks with wind strongest in the North and solar booming in the South.

Capture prices for German wind and solar eased in H1 from record-highs seen in 2022.

German solar capture prices hit a two-year-low in May averaging Eur61.89/MWh ($68/MWh), according to Platts Renewable Energy Price Explorer.

A surge in wind and strong solar caused extended episodes of negative hourly prices early July with German day-ahead peakload settling at a record low July 2.

Weak demand especially during weekends and a lower minimum price threshold were contributing factors with negative prices also leading to curtailments.

Daily wind and solar production in Germany peaked July 5 averaging over 38 GW, the highest for summer with the all-time high set in April 2022 at 49 GW, according to system data aggregated by Fraunhofer ISE.

Combined wind and solar generation accounted to over 50% in the German generation mix in 38% of all 15-minute intervals so far this year, according to analysts at S&P Global Commodity Insights.