Zoom Image

Control room of the transmission system operator Tennet in Lehrte near Hanover

Photo: Michael Matthey / dpa

Germany is covering an increasing proportion of its electricity needs with foreign aid. From August 1 to August 31, electricity imports exceeded exports by 5733 gigawatt hours, according to figures from the Federal Network Agency. This corresponded to almost 16 percent of the country's electricity demand during this period.

Although Germany has already imported more electricity than it exports in individual months in the past, imports have risen significantly since the shutdown of the last three nuclear power plants on April 15.

Nevertheless, Germany's largest transmission system operator Tennet calls for calmness. "Whether we import or export electricity says nothing about how much of our own generation we have available," says Tennet Managing Director Tim Meyerjürgens. Rather, the figures "say something about the price of production." Since the nuclear phase-out, the secured, predictable output in Germany has consisted primarily of conventional natural gas and coal-fired power plants. "These are often more expensive than renewables and also nuclear power abroad," says Meyerjürgens. The energy companies are reacting to this and prefer to buy cheaply. But that changes again and again. "We'll export in the meantime, then we'll import more again."

Coal-fired power plants underutilized

In fact, figures from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) show that only about 7471 gigawatt hours of electricity were generated in lignite and hard coal-fired power plants in Germany in August. The coal-fired power plants of the republic have not been so poorly utilized in any other month of this year as in August. Rising costs for CO2 emission rights in Europe are gradually making coal-fired power generation, which is particularly harmful to the climate, more expensive.

More on the subject

  • Energy imports: Is Germany really "on the drip" of foreign countries when it comes to electricity? A fact check by Benedikt Müller-Arnold

  • Energy supply: »Bild«, CDU/CSU and AfD, united in prepper fantasiesA column by Christian Stöcker

ISE figures also show which countries sold a particularly large amount of electricity to Germany last month. Most of the imports came from windy Denmark, followed by Switzerland, which generates electricity mainly with hydroelectric and nuclear power plants. In third place is France, whose electricity mix is traditionally characterized by nuclear reactors. But even the high imports from these countries are offset by German exports on other days and hours.

A theoretical continuation of the operation of the last three nuclear power plants in Germany would not have been harmful to the grid, says Meyerjürgens. "But we don't need the power, we can replace it with gas and coal-fired power plants," says the TenneT manager. "However, this increases CO2 emissions."