filed: December 4, 2024 • Germany
Germany’s weak winds trigger record surge in gas-fired power
Credit: By Gavin Maguire · December 4, 2024 · reuters.com ~~
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Gas-fired electricity production in Germany jumped by a record 79% in November from the month before as utilities scrambled to offset a second straight month of sharply below-normal output from wind farms.
Wind power output has been 25% below year-prior levels in October and November due to slow wind speeds, depriving power firms of a key electricity source just as winter set in. Wind farms supplied 27% of German utility electricity in 2023.
To plug the resulting generation gap, utilities lifted gas-fired electricity production from 5.34 terawatt hours (TWh) in October to 9.55 TWh in November, data from energy think tank Ember shows.
That was the largest ever monthly rise in German gas-fired generation, and was accompanied by a jump in coal-fired production to 20-month highs as utilities also had to offset a drop in solar generation to the lowest level this year.
https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/12/04/germanys-weak-winds-trigger-record-surge-in-gas-fired-power/