In the first half of 2016, 36.4 percent of the electricity produced in Germany was renewable according to preliminary data. The target for 2020 is only 35 percent – and that figure does not include power exports.  Renewables seem to be cutting into both coal power and nuclear; gas is up. Craig Morris explains. Preliminary data from Fraunhofer’s Energy Charts project indicates that Germany will probably surpass its 2020 target for renewable electricity. Indeed, the country seems to be approaching the lower end of the target corridor of 40-45 percent renewable power by 2025. The difficulty comes when we have to calculate power demand. You see, the figures above are for power generation, not domestic consumption; they therefore include power exports, which are skyrocketing. But the targets apply only to the share of renewables in domestic demand, not overall power production. Because renewables have priority dispatch, foreign demand for German electricity increases production of non-renewable electricity, so no renewables are subtracted when we leave out power exports – because the renewable power would have been generated … Continue reading Will Germany reach its 2020 target for renewable power this year?