Already more solar generation than in the whole of last year

Electricity consumption for the quarter was 110.9 TWh. The grid load* was thus slightly higher (0.3%) than in Q3 2024, while the actual generation** rose 0.5% to 100.6 TWh. Of this total, 65.1% came from renewable sources, compared to 62.2% in the same quarter of the previous year. As in Q3 2024, the energy source feeding in the most electricity was solar PV with 25.7 TWh (Q3 2024: 24.4 TWh), followed by onshore wind with 21.3 TWh (Q3 2024: 19.7 TWh). Offshore wind saw the strongest growth in percentage terms with an increase of 16%. Onshore wind, offshore wind and solar all reached record highs for a third quarter. This was due, in particular, to September, the month in which all three energy sources saw new highs, sometimes well above previous peak levels. Consequently, in the first nine months of the year, more electricity was fed into the grid from solar generation*** than in the whole of the year before.

The primary reason for the rise is the expansion of generation capacity. Almost 10,000 MW of solar capacity was added from 1 January 2024 to 1 January 2025, while for wind power it was over 4,000 MW in total. Weather conditions led to variations in the generation of wind and solar throughout the quarter. The changeable weather can be seen in the feed-in time series. Whereas in July, there was wind and sunshine by turns (DWD), it was particularly sunny in August (DWD) and in mid-September a storm in northern Germany (DWD), where many wind turbines are located, led to high levels of generation.

Conventional generation was 7.2% lower than in the third quarter of the previous year. All conventional energy sources recorded a three-digit drop in gigawatt hours of generation.

The residual load was down 5.5% to 58.2 TWh. Residual load on SMARD refers to the grid load not covered by wind or solar. A low residual load is usually linked to lower wholesale prices.

Germany’s wholesale prices rose more slowly than those of its neighbours

The average wholesale electricity price on the German day-ahead market was €82.76/MWh, 8.9% higher than in Q3 2024. The average price in Germany’s neighbouring countries rose 17.7% in the same period. There were negative wholesale prices in 136 of the 2,208 hours, compared to 189 in the same quarter of last year. The figures were similar in neighbouring countries such as France (130 hours), the Netherlands (130 hours) and Belgium (127 hours). The average wholesale price was negative in all neighbours in a total of 27 hours.

Although renewables took a larger share of total generation, average wholesale prices rose. One reason for this was the higher number of hours with above-average prices. Electricity consumption is higher in the evenings, when the setting sun produces less electricity from PV systems. More expensive power stations then often come to the fore in the merit order, leading to higher wholesale prices. Prices exceeded €100/MWh in 744 of 2,208 hours last quarter, up from 621 hours in Q3 2024. This affects the average price for the quarter as a whole. Germany’s neighbours saw an even greater rise in the number of hours with wholesale prices over €100/MWh, which explains their larger increase in average prices.

Particularly high prices (above €300/MWh) were recorded in 12 hours. This was the case in only six hours in Q3 2024. The highest wholesale price was paid for the hour from 8pm to 9pm on Tuesday, 1 July 2025, when a megawatt hour in day-ahead wholesale trading cost €476.19. The grid load at the time was 58.5 GWh with a total generation of 43.3 GWh and a residual load of 53.3 GWh. There were also comparatively high wholesale prices in the adjacent countries, averaging €363/MWh.

Higher exports, lower imports, Germany still net importer of electricity

Germany imported 20.3 TWh of electricity in the third quarter, 9.3% less than in the same period of 2024. Its largest supplier of electricity was Denmark (4.1 TWh), followed by France (3.9 TWh). It was these same two countries in Q3 2024, but the other way around. The imports from them were down overall, with France importing 21.7% less electricity than in the same quarter of last year and Denmark 15.4%. Imports from the Netherlands grew the most strongly (42.1% to 3.5 TWh). It was the country supplying the third-largest amount of electricity to Germany. This growth cannot be explained purely based on the average wholesale prices, as these were almost the same as the German ones at €79.95/MWh. The hourly breakdown in the “Market data visuals” section shows that wholesale prices in Germany and the Netherlands are usually very similar and only diverge significantly in a comparatively small number of hours. In the hours when prices in the Netherlands were well below the German ones, there were more imports from the Netherlands to Germany than exports from Germany to the Netherlands when the situation was the other way around.

A total of 12.0 TWh of electricity was exported, which is an increase of 12.1% on the previous year’s quarter. The largest amount of electricity was supplied to Austria, which bought 16.8% more from Germany than it had in the third quarter of 2024. The greatest relative growth was recorded in exports to Switzerland, which were up 183.8% to 1.0 TWh. Wholesale electricity prices in Switzerland increased considerably compared to Q3 2024 (49.8%).

As electricity imports were down and exports were up, Germany’s net imports fell 28.8% to 8.3 TWh. The European internal market enables all market participants to buy electricity where it can be produced most cheaply, whilst taking account of grid capacity. At the European level, the interconnected grid thus ensures price stability and security of supply as peaks in demand and generation can be smoothed out across the region.

An overview of Germany’s commercial foreign trade in electricity in the third quarter of 2025:

• Austria:
  exports: 2,463.3 GWh, imports: 437.1 GWh
• Belgium:
  exports: 791.9 GWh, imports: 1,913.4 GWh
• Czechia:
  exports: 1,467.6 GWh, imports: 839.8 GWh
• Denmark:
  exports: 1,958.9 GWh, imports: 4,102.7 GWh
• France:
  exports: 405.3 GWh, imports: 3,887.4 GWh
• Luxembourg:
  exports: 786.5 GWh, imports: 0 GWh
• Netherlands:
  exports: 1,117.4 GWh, imports: 3,485.3 GWh
• Norway:
  exports: 326.8 GWh, imports: 1,890.5 GWh
• Poland:
  exports: 1,501.9 GWh, imports: 653.4 GWh
• Sweden:
  exports: 142.7 GWh, imports: 838.7 GWh
• Switzerland:
  exports: 994.7 GWh, imports: 2,229.3 GWh

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*The grid load share of electricity that was generated from renewables is calculated differently from the federal government’s target definitions for the expansion of renewable energy under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), where the basis for calculation is gross electricity consumption. The grid load does not include power stations’ own consumption or industrial networks, so the calculation basis applied here – compared with the share of gross electricity consumption – typically results in a higher proportion of generation from renewables. The grid load is calculated by taking the net electricity generation, subtracting transmission capacity exports, adding transmission capacity imports and subtracting the pumping work at pumped storage power stations.

**The actual generation is the net electricity generation. It is the electricity fed into the general supply network less the electricity consumed by power plants themselves. It does not include electricity generated in the Deutsche Bahn network or within industrial networks and closed distribution networks.

***In the previously published version it was reported that in the first nine months of 2025 more electricity was fed into the grid from renewable sources than in the whole of 2024. This was incorrect. What is correct is that solar generation in the first nine months of 2025 exceeded the total amount of solar feed-in in 2024.

The figures presented in the charts and in the text may be updated at a later date. Further information about possible updates and data definitions is available (in German) in the user guide.