Renewables’ share of total clean energy generation in Europe topped 60% for the first time in the first three months of the year. That was a standout statistic in the latest quarterly report on the European power generation market from energy data analyst EnAppSys, which also found that the impact of COVID-19 triggered a steep fall in demand and prices in the last two months of the quarter. The largest share of electricity generation came from renewables, which produced 303 TWh in the period – 41% of overall power generation and up 16% on the amount produced in the first three months of 2019. The 303 TWh figure also represents 61% of clean energy generation in Q1 2020 – defined as a combination of renewable energy and nuclear power.

Volatile weather saw wind farms provide 42.3% of the renewables share of total generation. High wind generation peaked in February, with Germany providing by far the biggest share. In this month, Denmark, Germany and Ireland came close to covering 50% of their electricity demand with wind generation. Hydro was the second largest source of renewable generation in the quarter, producing 126.1 TWh, with Norway providing the largest share of this. This figure represents a 20% increase compared to Q1 2019 but is lower than levels seen in 2018. In contrast, generation from nuclear plants fell to 192 TWh in the first […]