Germany's total electricity generation from renewable and conventional energy sources in August and September amounted to 86.6 TWh, up 3.2% year-on-year. The highest hourly output of 81.9 GWh was produced on Tuesday, 11 September and was almost 4 GWh above the highest hourly output in the same period last year. The lowest hourly output of 37.5 GWh was on Sunday, 16 September and was slightly lower than that in the same period last year.

The graph illustrates electricity generation and consumption in August and September. It shows total electricity generation and consumption on each day in the period. The highest hourly output occurred on Tuesday, 11 September. This is not directly reflected in the total generation for that day: total generation was higher on six other days in the period.

Highest and lowest outputs of renewable electricity generation

September saw summer drawing to a close, with the first autumnal temperatures and several windy days. The low-pressure areas "Elena" and "Fabienne" boosted wind generation. As a result, renewable (and in particular wind) installations produced their highest output of the past two months on Friday, 21 September. Offshore and onshore wind generation on that day totalled 714 GWh, the highest in the whole of the two-month period. By contrast, solar installations generated just 93 GWh – compared to a daily output of up to 225 GWh in August – because there was little sunshine.

Total renewable generation on Friday, 21 September was 937 GWh. The highest hourly output recorded was 55 GWh, 1.8% lower than the highest figure in the same period last year, but two and a half times the average for August and September of this year (22 GWh). The lowest hourly output from renewables was 7.5 GWh on Tuesday, 28 August, when it was sunny but not very windy in Germany.

The graph shows the day when renewable generation was at its highest. Conventional power plants adapted to the changes in demand and scaled back generation. The red line shows consumption.

Highest and lowest outputs of conventional electricity generation

Conventional power plants have, as far as technically feasible and economically reasonable, adapted flexibly to the generation from renewables. Conventional generation recorded its lowest hourly output of 19 GWh between 7pm and 8pm on Saturday, 22 September. Conventional generation recorded its highest hourly output of 51 GWh on Thursday, 13 September, while renewables fed in only around 9 GWh in the same hour. At the same time, Germany imported 1.3 GWh from its European neighbours through the electricity market.