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Germany reports $2.5 billion power trade deficit in 2023 - paper

Germany had a 2.29 billion euro ($ 2.49 billion) international electrical power trade deficit in 2015, driven by the closure of its last nuclear reactor and imports of more affordable foreign power, Augsburger Allgemeine paper reported on Monday.

Germany imported electricity at an expense of 5.7 billion euros in 2023, balanced out by export profits of 3.5 billion euros, pressing Europe's largest economy into a negative electricity trade balance for the first time in years, the paper reported, mentioning information by the Federal Network Company.

Some 54 terawatts, around 11% of total German electricity intake, was imported in 2023, while exports amounted to 42 terawatts, the agency stated.

An increase in wholesale electricity imports from neighbouring nations lowered German customer power prices, the company stated, adding that Germany had adequate generation capability to cover its requirements.

If electricity was imported, it was because the electrical energy was less expensive abroad, a spokesperson for the company told Augsburger Allgemeine.

Germany ended on its last three nuclear power stations last March, ending a six-decade program, as Berlin enacts its plan for totally sustainable electricity generation by 2035.

The dive in electricity imports likewise helped slash German coal-fired power generation and greenhouse emissions in 2015, putting the country on track to reach its climate goals for 2030 of cutting emissions by 65% compared with 1990 and ending up being carbon neutral by 2045.

(source: Reuters)