logoalt Hacker News

j23ntoday at 3:52 PM1 replyview on HN

I think this sells the German energy mix short - fossil fuel has been on a steady decline in the energy mix for about 2 decades now.

Comparing 2020[^2] to 2025[^1]:

- renewables (solar+wind) went from 181 TWh to 219 TWh

- fossil (coal+gas) stayed constant (177 TWh and 179 TWh)

So I'd say we switched from nuclear (60TWh in 2020) to renewables & imported nuclear - but the long-term trend is towards renewables.

[1]: https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/press-media/press-releases/... [2]: (pdf) https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/content/dam/ise/en/documents/N...


Replies

jwrtoday at 4:25 PM

I realize there is a lot of verbal gymnastics going on around this issue, and the word "renewables" is being used a lot, but my point still stands.

Another way to look at your numbers is that had the nuclear plants not been turned off, fossil (coal+gas) could have been reduced by 60TWh.

But they weren't reduced. They remained the same.

From the point of view of the fossil fuel industry: WIN!