In the first quarter of 2020, the yields from renewable energies are clearly above plan: “Not only was there a windy start to the year, the sun also played its part and brought the wind and solar parks significant profits in electricity production,” says Markus W. Voigt, Managing Director of aream GmbH.

“In the case of wind, an increase of almost 30 percent was achieved compared to plan, and in the case of photovoltaics, thanks to the sunny March, an increase of two to four percent,” says Voigt. This means that investments in renewable energies already at the beginning of the year lay a good foundation for a successful year 2020.

The renewables had already achieved very good results last year, with yields on average two percent higher than planned. “So far this year it is mainly the wind that has been a source of joy,” says Voigt. In 2019, first-quarter results were also above target, but at 104 percent of the target yield they were still only slightly above target. “This year, we are seeing a clear outperformance across all locations and plants.” While the wind yield was 99 percent in January, it was 162 percent in February and 115 percent in March, which together gives a production level of 124 percent.

In the case of photovoltaics, the yields are also above target: with target achievement of 111 percent in March and 103 percent in February, German solar parks more than made up for the weak January (79 percent), with an average of 104 percent. Last year, the yield was exactly on target during the same period, with 100 percent of the target produced. It is interesting to note that last year was stronger in Italy, for example, as far as the first quarter is concerned: back then, the solar parks there achieved 104 percent of the target, this year it is 99 percent.

The figures for the first quarter also show that the sun and wind and occasionally also the regions are developing quite differently. “In the first quarter, both solar and wind farms are now above plan,” says Voigt. “In principle, however, a combination of both energy sources in a portfolio makes sense in order to be able to compensate for downward deviations in one of the energy sources by additional yields in another.” The aim is to provide investors in renewable energies with a calculable return that is as less correlated with other asset classes as possible. For 2020, renewable energies, especially if they are held in portfolios, are already well ahead of the rest of the year.