Düsseldorf (dpa/lnw) – The energy suppliers in North Rhine-Westphalia produced significantly more electricity from coal in the first half of 2022 than in the previous year. The use of gas, on the other hand, fell significantly, as the State Statistical Office IT.NRW announced on Monday. Renewable energies continue to play only a subordinate role in the electricity production of the energy suppliers in the most populous federal state.
According to the statisticians, a total of 45,072 gigawatt hours of electricity were generated by the energy supply companies from January to June 2022. Electricity production was therefore still slightly below the pre-pandemic level.
The most important energy source in power generation was coal, with a total share of 81 percent of gross power generation. Compared to the first half of 2021, electricity generation from lignite increased by 13.5 percent to 26,201 gigawatt hours and from hard coal by 52.1 percent to 10,313 gigawatt hours.
From January to June of this year, 6224 gigawatt hours of electricity were generated from natural gas. This corresponded to a 13.8 percent share of gross electricity generation and a decrease of 30.5 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Only 2.9 percent of the electricity production of the North Rhine-Westphalian energy supply companies or 1299 gigawatt hours came from renewable energy sources. Compared to the same period of the previous year, this means an increase of 19.5 percent.
