Germany natural gas power plant capacity
Germany natural gas power plant capacity stood at 35.35 GW in 2025, according to Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE – energy-charts.info. It is one of the indicators in the Installed conventional capacity table (Value · Annual), with a complete series running from 2002 to 2025. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Installed conventional capacity table
| Indicator | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermal and nuclear | |||||||||||
| Natural gas | 35.35 | 35.68 | 35.73 | 34.06 | 31.93 | 31.12 | 30.49 | 30.65 | 30.35 | 29.98 | |
| Oil | 3.58 | 3.71 | 4.32 | 4.38 | 4.38 | 4.56 | 4.58 | 4.53 | 4.8 | 5.04 |
Understanding germany natural gas power plant capacity
The maximum electrical output of grid-connected, gas-fired infrastructure is aggregated in this metric, evaluated in GW. The scope encompasses open-cycle turbines, combined-cycle stations, and conventional steam operations that rely on fossil gas as their main input. Positioned within the broader thermal group, this segment tracks highly flexible assets designed for rapid dispatch. The figures exclude installations running on biogas or synthetic green hydrogen, keeping the focus strictly on conventional fossil-derived inputs.
Assessing the evolution of balancing reserves requires annual year-on-year analysis, as the metric updates only at the end of each period. Early estimates frequently undergo revisions when dual-fuel peaking plants alter their regulatory primary fuel designation. Methodological breaks occasionally happen when existing combined heat and power plants are reclassified under different industrial ownership structures. It is a common pitfall to assume this measurement correlates with fuel consumption; an expanding asset base often operates at very low utilization rates merely to provide occasional stability to the network.
Frequently asked questions
- Are biogas plants included in this total?
- Facilities burning biologically derived gas are categorized under renewable energy and are explicitly excluded from this fossil fuel series.
- Does this count dual-fuel plants that also burn oil?
- Dual-fuel installations are assigned based on their primary designated input, meaning they appear here only if gas is officially their main energy source.
- How does this relate to gas consumption?
- This series measures the theoretical maximum generating power, which has no direct correlation with the actual volume of fuel burned during the period.