Energy suppliesIn power plants, the efficiency is increasing and the amount of energy used is decreasing

The specific fuel consumption used for generating electricity was considerably reduced between 1990 and 2008. Whereas in 1990 the fuel utilisation per net kilowatt-hour generated was still 9.9 mega-joules (MJ), only 6 MJ was required in 2008. As a result, the efficiency of the electricity generation – here defined as the ratio of the gross electricity generation to the overall energy input – increased to 41.9% by 2008. By way of comparison, in 1990 the efficiency of the fuel utilisation for generating electricity was still just 36.5%. Within the framework of the existing power plant fleet, a reduction of the specific fuel consumption can only be achieved with considerable additional costs. This means that a significant increase in the efficiency will only be attained if the technically and economically obsolete plants are replaced with modern, new plants.