As Europe continues to struggle against an energy crisis that has only been exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war, wind energy generation reached record highs in February with 20.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) of generation, according to a report from Rystad Energy.
Renewable energy. Credit: hrui / Shutterstock
Both solar and wind energy saw a surge in February 2022, marking a significant improvement over 2021 numbers. Credit: hrui / Shutterstock
As oil and gas prices continue to soar, 77% of the nation's renewable output for the month was handled through wind power, equating to roughly 45% of the entire energy mix - an 80% increase on March 2021.
Read more: Wind and solar reach 10% of global electricity in 2021
90% of the country's wind capacity is onshore and saw a brief decline between 2017 and 2020 attributed to changes in renewable energy support schemes and a lack of offshore wind projects to mitigate the losses.
However, the country's generation bounced back in 2021 with 2 GW of new capacity installed.
In addition, energy generation through solar PV panels reached 60 GWh at the end of 2021, coming in just 3 GW behind the country's total wind energy output.
Rystad Energy analysts refer to this as a "win-win" as both energy forms show "complementary peaks", with wind cutting the slack during the autumn and winter months when solar panels are less effective.
“The emerging evidence shows a complementarity between wind and solar generation. While the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow, most of the time the weather is doing one or the other at sufficient capacity to cover a significant portion of demand,” said Fabian Rønningen, an analyst at Rystad Energy.
The firm reports that wind generation for the entire continent was so effective during 2021 that, at 59.7 TWh, it beat out natural gas, which apparently clocked in at 41.4 TWh. It was only narrowly beaten by nuclear energy, which clocked in at 60.2 TWh.
That being said, German natural gas is expected to exceed coal and lignite by 2023, and the total capacity currently sits at well over 200 GW, with the EU planning to attempt to maintain 90% storage of natural gas by November 2023 in a bid to control prices as the energy crisis continues to send prices soaring.
Germany is still looking to implement yearly goals for renewable energy and has seen a gradual ramp-up in solar energy of around 5 GW annually. These goals are only set to get higher as the country works towards net-zero emissions.
Read more: German "green gas" terminal fast-tracked due to energy crisis
However, Rystad's report found that, generally, 2021 was a "horrible year" for German wind energy, with average capacity hovering around 20-25% - even lower than solar.
The firm warns that variations in both solar and wind energy will have to be addressed as renewables take up a larger part of the energy mix.
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