February sets German wind power record
Clean Energy Wire / Tagesspiegel Background
By the end of February 2020, German wind turbines will have generated close to 21 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power, setting a new monthly record, writes utilities association BDEW. Onshore wind generated 17.9 billion kWh of electricity, while offshore turbines generated three billion. This beats the previous record from March 2019 by about a fourth, when 16.5 billion kWh of power was produced – although the month was two days longer. Several storms in February this year helped bring wind power to its highest level ever. "Wind turbines generated as much electricity in February as two nuclear power plants did in the whole year. This is very pleasing and, together with the electricity generation from photovoltaics, it lays the foundation for a continuous decline in the use of conventional energy sources," said Kerstin Andreae, head of BDEW.
But the record stood in sharp contrast to Germany's slump in wind power expansion and insecurity about whether a support cap for solar power expansion will be removed, continued Andreae. Decisions on these issues, which stakeholders consider urgent, have been postponed until late spring, as part of an amendment to the Renewable Energy Act, reported Tagesspiegel Background.
