For the first time in five years, Germany imported more electricity than it exported in one month, the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) announced on Tuesday.
In the first half of 2019, Germany's electricity export surplus fell by 2.8 billion kilowatt hours to around 21 billion kilowatt hours compared to the same period last year, according to BDEW.
This was "mainly attributable to price developments," it noted.
BDEW said the carbon dioxide price (CO2) in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) had risen significantly in the first half of the year and at times reached around 27 euros (30 U.S. dollars).
This made electricity generation more expensive, especially from coal-fired power plants, while at the same time, wholesale prices for natural gas had fallen in the first half of 2019 compared with the previous year.
This had a "price dampening effect on the short-term procurement of gas for industry and power plants," the association announced.
According to the Berlin-Based Working Group on Energy Balances, the consumption of primary energy in Germany fell by 1.7 percent in the first six months of 2019 compared to the same period last year.
Preliminary calculations from the working group showed that the decline in coal consumption ranged in the double-digit figures, while renewable energy consumption in Germany increased by 4 percent in the first half of the year.
Editor:Cherie
