Erfurt (dpa/th) - Thuringia's industrial companies produced less energy for their own supply last year than they have in almost two decades. In industrial power plants, a total of 593 gigawatt hours of electricity were generated in 2021, the State Statistical Office announced on Monday in Erfurt. This is the lowest value since 2005, when 561 gigawatt hours of electricity were produced by industry. The proportion of renewable energy sources was 57.4 percent and has also fallen compared to previous years.
The significant decline resulted from the fact that some industrial power generation plants were out of operation. The standstill was usually caused by maintenance work, said a spokeswoman for the state office on request. In addition, the system of a large industrial power generator was not running for the entire past year. The State Office could not give any reasons for this.
In the case of renewables, bio-energy sources were primarily used, including benn lye, a by-product of paper production, and biogas. According to data from the state office, the proportion of industrial electricity from renewable energy sources had been well over 60 percent for years; in 2020 it was almost 66 percent with a total of 797 gigawatt hours of industrial electricity.
According to the state office, electricity production in industrial power plants is mainly used for the self-sufficiency of the companies. The remaining part of the electricity generated is given to other companies or fed into the grid.
