German wind power output rose above 42 GW for the first time Wednesday evening setting new hourly and daily output records, data from grid operators show.

Hourly wind output averaged 42.612 GW between 21:00 and 21:59 local time, according to EEX transparency which collects the data on behalf of Germany’s transmission systems operators.

Daily wind output reached 940 GWh Wednesday with the hourly average above 39 GW, according to data from Fraunhofer ISE, which also aggregates the TSO data but adjusts it to growth in turbine installations.

According to WindEurope, German wind turbines generated a record 925 GWh Wednesday covering 60% of domestic power demand.

German wind turbine installations continued to grow at record speed with estimates of up to 7 GW added in 2017 alone, pushing total installed wind capacity towards 55 GW of which over 5 GW are now offshore benefiting from a higher load factor.

According to the hourly TSO data on EEX Transparency, onshore wind output peaked at 38.97 GW during the evening, while offshore wind peaked at 4.42 GW during morning hours.

The first storm in 2018 follows an exceptionally stormy Q4 2017 with both October and December setting new monthly records, with average wind output in December above 20 GW for the first time ever.

Annual wind output in 2017 also reached a new record-high with 103.6 TWh generated, up 33% on 2016, the TSO aggregated data collected by Fraunhofer ISE showed, accounting for over 18% of Germany’s domestic power demand throughout the year.

platts.com