Renewable energy in Germany

Renewable Energy in Germany (from top left to bottom right):

• Biogas fermenter in Hornstet
• Wind park in Bernburg
• Geothermal power plant in Neustadt-Glewe
• German wind and solar in Rhineland-Palatinate

Renewable energy in Germany is mainly based on wind and biomass, plus solar and hydro. Germany had the world's largest photovoltaic installed capacity until 2014, and as of 2023 it has over 82 GW. It is also the world's third country by installed total wind power capacity, 64 GW in 2021^[1] (59 GW in 2018^[2]) and second for offshore wind, with over 7 GW. Germany has been called "the world's first major renewable energy economy".^[3][4]

The share of renewable electricity rose from just 3.4% of gross electricity consumption in 1990, provided by conventional hydro, to exceed 10% by 2005 thanks to additional biomass and wind, and reaching 42.1% of consumption in 2019.^[5][6] As with most countries, the transition to renewable energy in the transport and heating and cooling sectors has been considerably slower.

According to official figures, around 370,000 people were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2010, particularly in small and medium-sized companies.^[7] This is over twice the number of jobs in 2004 (160,500). About two-thirds of these jobs are attributed to the Renewable Energy Sources Act.^[8][9]

Germany's federal government is working to increase renewable energy commercialization,^[10] with a particular focus on offshore wind farms.^[11] A major challenge is the development of sufficient network capacities for transmitting the power generated in the North Sea to the large industrial consumers in southern parts of the country.^[12] Germany's energy transition, the Energiewende, designates a significant change in energy policy from 2011. The term encompasses a reorientation of policy from supply to demand and a shift from centralized to distributed generation (for example, producing heat and power in very small cogeneration units), which should replace overproduction and avoidable energy consumption with energy-saving measures and increased efficiency.