“Rivers and streams are freed from ice by spring’s lovely, life-giving gaze,” is how Goethe begins one of his poems. And indeed, Germany has enjoyed a glorious first month of spring. “German solar installations have also benefited from this”, comments Andreas Ehrbar, Chief Operating Officer of the aream Group.

Nature has been jolted out of its winter slumber almost abruptly in recent weeks. Following the bitter cold, spring got off to a flying start in March. According to the German Weather Service (DWD), the first half of the month was as warm as it usually is in April. The average temperature in March was 6.3 degrees – 2.8 degrees higher than the long-term average for the reference period from 1961 to 1990. According to the DWD, the sun shone for around 195 hours in March, well above the long-term average of 111 hours.

Things therefore went well for the German solar plants in the aream portfolio. Thanks to very good irradiation levels, the target was exceeded by seven per cent in March. Without curtailments (around 570 MWh) and without the repair of a transformer, the figure would have been even higher. Unlike in Germany, there were relatively few hours of sunshine in Spain. The target was therefore missed by eight per cent. Weak irradiation levels in Italy reduced target achievement to 80 per cent. The shutdown of a plant for grid analysis (around 100 MWh) detracted from an otherwise stable performance.

Yields from aream’s German wind farms remained disappointing: “Wind remained well below expectations throughout the entire first quarter of 2026,” explained Ehrbar. Target achievement in March was just under 65 per cent. Since the start of the year, the figure stands at around 69 per cent.