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Renewable energy covered 51.6% of Germany’s gross electricity consumption in 2023, surpassing the 50% threshold for the entire year for the first time, as per preliminary calculations.
The share of renewables in gross consumption increased by five percentage points compared to 2022, according to estimates by the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW) and the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry (BDEW).
Renewable energy generation grew 6% to 267 billion kWh which corresponds to a share of 52.6% of total gross power generation in the country. The proportion of renewables was particularly high in July (59%), May (57%) as well as October and November (55% each). In June, solar power generation set a record at 9.8 billion kWh, and onshore wind energy achieved a new annual high of 113.5 billion kWh, marking a 13.4% increase. Onshore wind energy, constituting 22.3%, emerged as the leading contributor among renewables to the overall gross power generation.
Solar installations fed 62 billion kWh into the grid, reaching a share of 12.2%. This corresponds to a 4.6% increase as compared to 2022.
Unlike onshore wind and solar energy, electricity supplied by offshore wind parks declined to 23 billion kWh in 2023 from 25.2 billion kWh in the prior year.
Overall gross electricity generation in Germany, including conventional energy, fell to 508.1 billion kWh from 569.2 billion kWh while gross power consumption declined 4.2% to 517.3 billion kWh.
Commenting on the figures, BDEW president Kerstin Andreae said that the remaining 50% of renewables can be achieved if politicians continue to consistently remove all hurdles to the expansion of renewables. Companies in the energy industry are keen to invest in the energy transition, but despite improvements in legislation, they are still facing lengthy approval processes, excessive bureaucracy, and a lack of space, Andreae said.
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