Photovoltaics on record course
Renewables cover half of electricity consumption
6/27/2023 6:36 am
There isn’t much time left: by 2030, 80 percent of Germany’s electricity should come from renewable energies. In the past six months, the proportion was more than half. Solar energy in particular is booming.
The share of renewable energies from wind and sun in electricity consumption in Germany has continued to rise. It was around 52 percent in the first half of the year. That is three percentage points more than in the first half of 2022, as preliminary calculations by the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) show.
In May in particular, the share of renewable energies in electricity consumption was unusually high at 57 percent due to the sunny weather. Photovoltaic systems would have generated more electricity than ever before this month. This record could be surpassed again in June.
Around 42 percent of the electricity generated from renewable energies came from onshore wind turbines, a good quarter from solar systems, plus biomass, offshore wind turbines and hydroelectric power. The expansion of renewable energies from wind and sun plays a key role in the federal government’s strategy to achieve Germany’s climate protection goals and to become less dependent on fossil energies such as coal and gas. Extensive measures have been decided to speed up expansion. According to the plans of the federal government, by 2030 80 percent of the electricity will come from renewable energies. The demand for electricity is likely to increase enormously, due to millions of electric cars and heat pumps.
Frithjof Staiß, Executive Director of ZSW, said that in order to achieve climate neutrality by 2045, electricity generation must already be based entirely on renewable energies by 2035. The further expansion must take place much faster than in the past. BDEW General Manager Kerstin Andreae pointed out the problem of the shortage of skilled workers. “Many companies are already having problems finding qualified personnel. The situation could worsen drastically in the coming years. We must therefore get more young people, especially women, interested in careers in the energy industry.” Political support is also needed here.