By Andreas Franke

May 22, 2018 - Germany has turned a net power importer on a weekly basis for the first time in three years as strong hydro across the Alpine region offset lower wind and solar generation, TSO data aggregated by Fraunhofer ISE shows.

• First weekly net import position since May 2015 for Germany

• Snowmelt boosts German hydro to weekly record, proxy for Alps

• Wind/solar drop offset by hydro imports, coal/gas rebound

German hydro output had its best week on record as snowmelt combined with downpours in the Alpine region and German hydro plants generating 750 GWh of electricity in week 20, averaging 4.5 GW, data going back to 2011 shows.

The German hydro data can be seen as proxy for Swiss and Austrian hydro output with Alpine hydro at elevated level since April following near-record snow fall across the Alps this winter.

This helped to swing Germany's cross-border power balance from a typical net export to a net import position for week 20 with a small 0.1 TWh import surplus, the data shows.

Another factor contributing to that swing was reduced wind and solar output last week with Swiss imports most pronounced and a slight rebound for German coal and gas output also offsetting the shortfall.

Combined weekly wind and solar output dropped below 3 TWh for the first time in four weeks, the data shows.

Coal and gas output rebounded to its highest in four weeks with reporting gas units at 0.3 TWh and hard-coal at 1 TWh, the weekly TSO data shows.

The data is another snapshot for high hydro levels this spring keeping coal and gas output squeezed even during times of low wind and solar generation.

Germany was Europe's biggest exporter of electricity for a second year in a row in 2017 with a net export balance of over 50 TWh and the two Alpine countries alone accounting for net imports from Germany of over 30 TWh, based on physical flow data reported by TSOs on Entso-e.

Hydro power accounts for two-thirds of power demand in Switzerland and Austria with both countries almost 30 GW of hydro plants generating almost 70 TWh/year, while German hydro is relatively small with some 20 TWh generated in 2017.

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