The share of electricity produced from renewable energy in Germany has increased from 6.3 percent of the national total in 2000 to over 20 percent in the first half of 2011.[1] In 2010, investments totaling 26 billion euros were made in Germany’s renewable energies sector. According to official figures, some 370,000 people in Germany were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2010, especially in small and medium sized companies. This is an increase of around 8 percent compared to 2009 (around 339,500 jobs), and well over twice the number of jobs in 2004 (160,500). About two-thirds of these jobs are attributed to the Renewable Energy Sources Act[2][3] Germany is the world's first major renewable energy economy.[4] In 2010 nearly 17% (more than 100 TWH) of Germany's electricity supply (603 TWH) was produced from renewable energy sources, more than the 2010 contribution of gas fired power plants.[5]
Renewable electricity in 2010 was 101.7 TWh including wind power 36.5 TWh, biomass and biowaste 33.5 TWh, hydropower 19.7 TWh and photovoltage solar power 12.0 TWh.[6]
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Since the passage of the Directive on Electricity Production from Renewable Energy Sources in 1997, Germany and the other states of the European Union have been working towards a target of 12% renewable electricity by 2010. Germany passed this target early in 2007 when the renewable energy share in electricity consumption in Germany reached 14%.[7] In September 2010 the German government announced the following new aggressive energy targets:[8]
The German Government reports that in 2010 renewable energy (mainly wind turbines and biomass plants) generated more than 100 TWh (billion kilowatt-hours) of electricity, providing nearly 17% of the 600 TWh of electricity supplied.[5]
Closely after the USA, Germany is the world's second largest user of wind power with an installed capacity of 23,903 MW by the end of 2008,[9] ahead of Spain which had an installed capacity of 16,740 MW.[10] 20,301 wind turbines are located in the German federal area and the country has plans to build more wind turbines.[11]
In 2009, 6.5% of Germany's total electricity consumption was satisfied by wind power. 867 wind power plants were constructed in 2008, and 952 more in 2009. At the end of 2009, Germany possessed 21,614 wind power plants. Their installed electricity production capacity was 25,777 MW.[12]
Wind power currently produces about seven percent of Germany's total power and it is said that no other country has more technological know-how in this area. Wind power in Germany provides over 70,000 people with jobs and German wind energy systems are also exported.[11] However, the economics of wind power in Germany are under close scrutiny[13] and there are other issues which deserve consideration. These include the effects of wind turbines on the landscape, the bird population, and the tourist industry.[11]
Following the 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents, Germany's federal government is working on a new plan for increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy commercialization, with a particular focus on offshore wind farms. Under the plan large wind turbines will be erected far away from the coastlines, where the wind blows more consistently than it does on land, and where the enormous turbines won't bother the inhabitants. The plan aims to decrease Germany's dependence on energy derived from coal and nuclear power plants.[14]
At the end of 2007 Germany had an installed capacity of 3,830 MWp. By the end of 2009, capacity had increased to 9,800 MWp.[15] The first 9 months of 2010 added about 5,400 MWp in new solar capacity.[16] In 2006, the European Commission anticipated that Germany may have installed around 4,500 MWp by 2010.[17] For 2009, the German government calculated that the PV industry provided 64,700 jobs in production, distribution and installation.[18] Over 90% of solar PV installations are in grid-tied applications in Germany.
Completed in 2006, the 12 MW Solarpark Gut Erlasee photovoltaic system, near Arnstein in Bavaria, was, at the time of construction, the world's largest PV system.[19] The Waldpolenz Solar Park, which is the world’s largest thin-film photovoltaic (PV) power system, became fully operational by the end of 2008. The power plant is a 40 MW solar power system using state-of-the-art thin film technology. [20]
The installed capacity for geothermal energy in Germany was of 8.4 MW in 2007.[21]
The total installed capacity in Germany at the end of 2006 was 4.7 GW. Hydropower meets 3.5% of the electricity demand. Latest estimates show that in Germany in 2007 approx. 9,400 people were employed in the hydropower sector which generated a total turnover of €1.23 billion.[22]
Germany's renewable energy sector is among the most innovative and successful worldwide. Nordex, Repower, Fuhrländer and Enercon are wind power companies based in Germany. SolarWorld, Q-Cells and Conergy are solar power companies based in Germany. These companies dominate the world market. Every third solar panel and every second wind rotor is made in Germany, and German turbines and generators used in hydro energy generation are among the most popular worldwide.[23]
Nearly 800,000 people work in the German environment technology sector; an estimated 214,000 people work with renewables in Germany, up from 157,000 in 2004, an increase of 36 percent.[23]
Siemens chief executive, Peter Löscher believes that Germany’s target of generating 35 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2020 is achievable – and, most probably, profitable for Europe’s largest engineering company. Its “environmental solutions” portfolio, which is firmly focused on renewables, is “already generating more than €27 billion a year, 35 per cent of Siemens’ total revenue, and the plan is to grow this to €40 billion by 2015”. Ending its involvement in nuclear industry will boost the credibility of Siemens as a purveyor of “green technology”.[24]
Germany's main competitors in solar electricity are Japan, the US and China. In the wind industry it is Denmark, Spain and the US.
The renewable energy sector benefited when the Alliance '90/The Greens party joined the Federal Government between 1998 and 2005. The renewable energy sector was aided especially by the Renewable Energy Sources Act that promotes renewable energy mainly by stipulating feed-in tariffs that grid operators must pay for renewable energy fed into the power grid. People who produce renewable energy can sell their 'product' at fixed prices for a period of 20 or 15 years. This has created a surge in the production of renewable energy.[25]
For the 2005–2010 period the Federal Government set aside nearly 800 million euros for scientific research in the country. That research will be earmarked for policies of long-term development. Additionally, in 2001 a law was passed requiring the closing of all nuclear power plants within a period of 32 years. The shutdown time was extended to 2040 by a new government in 2010. After the Fukushima incident, the law was abrogated and the end of nuclear energy was set to 2022.
The cost of replacing Germany's nuclear power generation with renewable energy has been officially estimated by the German Ministry of Economics at about €0.01/kW·h (about €55 billion for the next decade), on top of the €13 billion per year already devoted to subsidizing renewables. However, unofficial estimates of the ministry, and of the Rhenish-Westphalian Institute for Economic Research (RWI), German Energy Agency (DENA), Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZBV), and the government-owned development bank (KfW), put the cost several times higher, at about €250 billion ($340 B) over the next decade.[26][27]
The German energy policy is framed within the European Union, and the March 2007 European Council in Brussels approved a mandatory energy plan that requires a 20% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions before the year 2020 and the consumption of renewable energies to be 20% of total EU consumption (compared to 7% in 2006).[28] The accord indirectly acknowledged the role of nuclear energy — which is not renewable, but emissions-free — in the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gasses, allowing each member state to decide whether or not to use nuclear generated electricity.
Also a compromise was reached to achieve a minimum quota of 10% Biofuels in the total consumption of gasoline and diesel in transport in 2020.
A 2009 study from RWI Essen of the effects of the Renewable Energy Sources Act concluded that:
Germany's Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety responded to the RWI Essen study, describing the criticisms as "well known and refuted a long time ago".[30]
Increases in installed renewable electric power capacity and generation in recent years is shown in the table below:[31][32]
| Year | Installed capacity [MW] |
Hydropower [GWh] |
Wind energy [GWh] |
Biomass [GWh] |
Biogenic share of waste [GWh] |
Photovoltaics [GWh] |
Geothermal energy [GWh] |
Total electricity generation [GWh] |
Share of gross electricity consumption [%] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 5,043 | 15,580 | 71 | 221 | 1,213 | 1 | 0 | 17,086 | 3.1 |
| 1991 | 5,149 | 15,402 | 100 | 260 | 1,211 | 2 | 0 | 16,974 | 3.1 |
| 1992 | 5,270 | 18,091 | 275 | 296 | 1,262 | 3 | 0 | 19,927 | 3.7 |
| 1993 | 5,483 | 18,526 | 600 | 433 | 1,203 | 6 | 0 | 20,768 | 3.9 |
| 1994 | 5,830 | 19,501 | 909 | 569 | 1,306 | 8 | 0 | 22,293 | 4.2 |
| 1995 | 6,415 | 20,747 | 1,500 | 665 | 1,348 | 11 | 0 | 24,271 | 4.5 |
| 1996 | 6,927 | 18,340 | 2,032 | 759 | 1,343 | 16 | 0 | 22,490 | 4.1 |
| 1997 | 7,521 | 18,453 | 2,966 | 880 | 1,397 | 26 | 0 | 23,722 | 4.3 |
| 1998 | 8,472 | 18,452 | 4,489 | 1,642 | 1,618 | 32 | 0 | 26,233 | 4.7 |
| 1999 | 10,040 | 20,686 | 5,528 | 1,849 | 1,740 | 42 | 0 | 29,845 | 5.4 |
| 2000 | 11,937 | 24,867 | 7,550 | 2,893 | 1,844 | 64 | 0 | 37,218 | 6.4 |
| 2001 | 14,817 | 23,241 | 10,509 | 3,348 | 1,859 | 76 | 0 | 39,033 | 6.7 |
| 2002 | 18,333 | 23,662 | 15,786 | 4,089 | 1,949 | 162 | 0 | 45,648 | 7.8 |
| 2003 | 21,617 | 17,722 | 18,713 | 6,086 | 2,161 | 313 | 0 | 44,995 | 7.5 |
| 2004 | 24,848 | 19,910 | 25,509 | 7,960 | 2,117 | 556 | 0.2 | 56,052 | 9.2 |
| 2005 | 28,300 | 19,576 | 27,229 | 10,978 | 3,047 | 1,282 | 0.2 | 62,112 | 10.1 |
| 2006 | 32,048 | 20,042 | 30,710 | 14,841 | 3,675 | 2,220 | 0.4 | 71,488 | 11.6 |
| 2007 | 35,851 | 21,249 | 39,713 | 19,760 | 4,130 | 3,075 | 0.4 | 87,927 | 14.2 |
| 2008 | 40,108 | 20,446 | 40,574 | 22,872 | 4,659 | 4,420 | 17.6 | 92,988 | 15.1 |
| 2009 | 46,377 | 19,059 | 38,639 | 25,989 | 4,352 | 6,578 | 18.8 | 94,636 | 16.3 |
| 2010 | 55,702 | 19,694 | 36,500 | 28,710 | 4,750 | 12,000 | 27.2 | 101,681 | 16.8 |
| 2010 Q1 | 4,370 | 10,900 | 6,840 | 1,160 | 1,460 | 24,900 | 17.1 | ||
| 2010 Q1+2 | 9,800 | 18,300 | 14,800 | 2,200 | 5,500 | 50,400 | 17.1 | ||
| 2011 Q1 | 5,270 | 11,560 | 7,170 | 1,320 | 2,780 | 28,100 | 19.2 | ||
| 2011 Q1+2 | 9,200 | 20,700 | 15,700 | 2,200 | 9,700 | 57,300 | 20.8 |
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