Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions from power production decreased 15 percent in the first half of 2019, compared to the same period last year, thanks to a renewables record, rising CO₂ allowance prices in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and mild weather, says the energy industry association BDEW. According to preliminary calculations, emissions fell from 136 million tonnes CO₂ to 116 million tonnes. BDEW had recently announced a fresh renewables record. Stormy weather boosted wind power production on land and sea and pushed up the share of renewables in electricity consumption to 44 percent in the first half of 2019.

Newspaper tageszeitung (taz) reports that lignite power stations produced 21 percent less in the first six months of 2019 than in the same period last year. “Rising costs for [ETS] CO₂ allowances in combination with fallen prices at the electricity exchange make lignite increasingly unprofitable,” Bruno Burger, professor at Fraunhofer ISE, told the newspaper.

The German government aims to raise the share of renewables to 65 percent by 2030 as part of its Energiewende drive to replace fossil and nuclear power generation. However, a recent drop in new wind power installations, caused by uncertainty following a shift to an auction-based system and growing popular resistance against wind farms, has triggered concerns that renewables growth could be too slow. BDEW is among many who say Germany has to massively expand wind and solar electricity to reach the government coalition’s target.