How Germany achieved a record share of renewables during the COVID-19 pandemic while relying on the European interconnected power network

Title data

Halbrügge, Stephanie ; Buhl, Hans Ulrich ; Fridgen, Gilbert ; Schott, Paul ; Weibelzahl, Martin ; Weissflog, Jan:
How Germany achieved a record share of renewables during the COVID-19 pandemic while relying on the European interconnected power network.
In: Energy. Vol. 246 (2022) . - No. 123303.
ISSN 0360-5442
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2022.123303

Official URL:

Abstract in another language

In 2020, Germany reached a maximum share of 50.5% intermittent renewables in electricity generation. Such a high share results in an increasing need for flexibility measures such as international transmission flexibility, i.e., electricity imports and exports. In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany changed from a former electricity net exporter to a net importer. This paper, therefore, analyzes what we can learn from the resulting development of German electricity imports as a flexibility measure from a market, environmental, and network perspective. We analyze data on electricity imports/exports, generation, prices, and interconnection capacities of 38 bidding zones, respectively 11 countries within the ENTSO-E. In particular, we formulate three hypotheses to partition our overarching research question. Our results reveal that from a market perspective, Germany's increased need for transmission flexibility did not generally result in increased prices for German electricity imports.
Also, from an environmental perspective, Germany increasingly relied on electricity imports from countries that exhibited a lower share of renewables. Finally, during the COVID-19 pandemic some of Germany's interconnection capacities to its neighboring countries exhibited a higher utilization. In view of our results, German policymakers may reflect on decarbonization policies considering a holistic European perspective.

Further data

Item Type:	Article in a journal
Refereed:	Yes
Keywords:	European Electricity System; COVID-19 Pandemic; Electricity Imports; Electricity Exports
Institutions of the University:	Faculties > Faculty of Law, Business and Economics > Department of Business Administration Research Institutions Research Institutions > Affiliated Institutes Research Institutions > Affiliated Institutes > Fraunhofer Project Group Business and Information Systems Engineering Research Institutions > Affiliated Institutes > FIM Research Center Finance & Information Management Faculties Faculties > Faculty of Law, Business and Economics
Result of work at the UBT:	Yes
DDC Subjects:	000 Computer Science, information, general works > 004 Computer science 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
Date Deposited:	23 Mar 2022 08:48
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2022 08:34
URI:	https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/68967