In 2019 natural gas will be more important than hard coal for the first time. With an electricity production of 91 billion kWh, gas overtook hard coal, which fell by 31% in the same period due to the ongoing energy turnaround. According to the German Energy Association BDEW, gas is now the third most important energy source for electricity after lignite and onshore wind power, followed by nuclear power.
Natural gas benefits above all from the fact that although Germany wants the energy turnaround and has set itself ambitious climate targets, the expansion of renewables is not progressing fast enough.
More on this Warum Erdgas mittlerweile wichtiger ist als Steinkohle (faz.net)
(Dezember 2020)