Lots of sunshine with high wind levels: May was a very good month for renewable energies in Germany. In Europe, the situation looks different: "In Italy, with the heavy rainfall, and also in Spain, solar radiation was significantly lower than usual, decreasing by 14 and 30 percent, respectively", says Markus W. Voigt, CEO of the aream Group.

Nevertheless, the production of green electricity is on target: for photovoltaics, a total of 98 percent of the target was achieved, and for wind 102 percent. "This result also shows that robustness is increasing", says Voigt. "On the one hand, this is due to the increasing number of plants that complement each other and compensate for regional and weather-related differences." But on the other hand, technical development is also continuing.

For example, despite the significantly lower irradiation in Italy, a good production result was achieved. "In Italy, with 14 percent lower irradiation, 96 percent of the expected amount of electricity was still produced," says Voigt. And in Spain, with 30 percent lower irradiation, 83 percent of the expected result was achieved.

"These figures show that the technical side is playing an increasingly important role and that a kind of hidden reserve has formed in the calculation", Voigt says. "Thanks to technical advancements both in modules, but especially in operation and maintenance, the calculation bases are significantly exceeded under optimal conditions. This is similarly true for wind energy." 

With electricity prices still falling slightly, levies under the StromPBG are expected to be low again in May. "For the state, however, the falling electricity prices are a great relief in any case, as the electricity price brake also has to be used correspondingly less", says Voigt.