Even in crisis, Germany extends power exports to neighbours

By Vera Eckert and Tom Sims

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany exported more electricity to its neighbours than it imported in 2022, even with an energy crisis at home, thanks to more more weather-driven renewable power and greater demand from France.

While Switzerland and Austria were the main export destinations, in a notable shift Germany exported more to France than it imported as the nuclear-reliant country grappled with technical problems at its reactors that curtailed production.

The trade figures show that Germany’s neighbours remain dependent on surplus power from Europe’s biggest economy if their own generation supplies fall short.

Germany’s export surplus grew to 27.5 terawatt hours (TWh) compared with 20.8 TWh a year earlier, according to utility industry association BDEW – in tune with a handful of other recent comments.

In detail, German power imports in 2022 totalled 51 TWh, 2.6% down from 2021, while exports rose 7.3% year-on-year to 78.5 TWh, giving a net export surplus.

Due to the technical problems affecting French reactors, Germany for the first time sold more power to France than it received from its neighbour, doubling its year-earlier export volume there.

France produced 15.1% less power in 2022 and the volume fell short of national usage by 1%.

France faced its own energy crisis amid outages owing to delayed maintenance and stress corrosion.

The Paris government and authorities say the problems are easing, citing progress with maintenance and usage curbs.

German renewable production grew 8.5% in 2022 to 233.9 TWh, the energy regulator said. Onshore wind output was up 12.4% and offshore 2.9%, thanks to high wind speeds. Solar photovoltaics output was up 18.7% at 46.6 TWh in a long and sunny summer.

GRAPHIC : Net exporter – https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UKRAINE-CRISIS/znvnbbwoavl/chart.png

France, Switzerland and Austria increased energy imports from Germany year-on-year, as did the Czech Republic, Belgium and Norway.

The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Luxembourg, meanwhile, reduced shipments from Germany.

Import and export charts do not fully reflect commercial activities in the converging traded wholesale market, however.

This is because transmission grid operators organise cross-border flows mindful of limits posed by historic bottlenecks, so the numbers include pure transit and diverted volumes, called ring-flows.

GRAPHIC : German electricity exports – https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UKRAINE-CRISIS/gkplwwngovb/chart.png

Import patterns showed more Dutch volumes flowing into Germany and from the Nordic countries, where sea cables operate for Norwegian and Swedish power.

Denmark, in addition, offers onshore and transit connections via the Jutland peninsula.

Volumes originating in Switzerland, Austria, Poland, among others, fell last year.

GRAPHIC : German electricity imports – https://www.reuters.com/graphics/UKRAINE-CRISIS/xmvjkkakwpr/chart.png

To help speed up the advent of more harmonised power markets, a new interconnector between Germany and Belgium was opened at the end of 2020, cutting down on transits through the Netherlands.

In mid-2021, a new interconnector to Norway started operating to facilitate mainly the export of German wind and solar and the import of Norwegian hydropower, led by prices.

GRAPHIC : Trading partners – https://www.reuters.com/graphics/GERMANY-POWER/zjvqjjrlapx/chart.png

(Reporting by Vera Eckert and Tom Sims, editing by Rachel More;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)