Climate Changed
German Wind, Solar Power Beat Coal Generation for First Time
- Clean power surged 10% through June as coal lost share
- Utilities say jump marks turning point for power generation
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Germany’s wind and solar farms surpassed lignite and hard coal as sources of electricity for the first time during the six months to June, a sign the market is starting to squeeze out the dirtiest fossil fuels.
The power mix in Europe’s biggest economy hit a turning point when clean generation surged 10 percent to 118 billion kilowatt-hours through June, the BDEW utilities federation said Tuesday. Coal’s share of the market dropped 10 percent from 2017 to 114 billion kilowatt-hours.