BERLIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Germany became a net exporter of electricity in the first quarter, the first time since late 2023, as a sharp drop in wholesale power prices boosted demand for German electricity from neighboring countries, the Federal Network Agency said on Monday.

Germany exported 17.9 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity between January and March, while imports totaled 15.3 TWh. "It is the first quarter since the fourth quarter of 2023 in which net exports were recorded," the agency said. In the first quarter of 2025, the import surplus was still 4 TWh.

The authority attributed the turnaround mainly to falling wholesale electricity prices in Germany, which declined more sharply than most neighboring markets.

Lower prices made it more attractive for foreign utilities to buy electricity from German producers, while reducing incentives for German suppliers to import power, the agency said.

Austria remained the largest buyer of German electricity in the quarter, while exports to Denmark and Norway recorded the strongest increases. Exports to France, however, fell by around half compared with the same period a year earlier. On the import side, Denmark was Germany's biggest electricity supplier, followed by the Netherlands and France.

Onshore wind power accounted for the largest share of German electricity exports, with renewable energy sources making up 57.1 percent of total exports, while renewables also represented 50.2 percent of electricity imports, although nuclear power remained the single largest individual energy source in imported electricity, the agency said.