How Germany achieved a record share of renewables during the COVID-19 pandemic while relying on the European interconnected power network

Abstract

In 2020, Germany reached a maximum share of 50.5% intermittent renewables in electricity generation. Such a high share results in an increasing need for flexibility measures such as international transmission flexibility, i.e., electricity imports and exports. In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany changed from a former electricity net exporter to a net importer. This paper, therefore, analyzes what we can learn from the resulting development of German electricity imports as a flexibility measure from a market, environmental, and network perspective. We analyze data on electricity imports/exports, generation, prices, and interconnection capacities of 38 bidding zones, respectively 11 countries within the ENTSO-E. In particular, we formulate three hypotheses to partition our overarching research question. Our results reveal that from a market perspective, Germany's increased need for transmission flexibility did not generally result in increased prices for German electricity imports. Also, from an environmental perspective, Germany increasingly relied on electricity imports from countries that exhibited a lower share of renewables. Finally, during the COVID-19 pandemic some of Germany's interconnection capacities to its neighboring countries exhibited a higher utilization. In view of our results, German policymakers may reflect on decarbonization policies considering a holistic European perspective.