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Renewable energy technologies covered 56% of Germany’s total electricity needs in the first nine months of 2024 — an increase of 4 percentage points compared to the same period a year before, preliminary calculations show.
Renewables’ monthly contribution ranged between 53% and 59% over the period, according to the analysis by the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).
Solar led the year-on-year gains, with the technology delivering 15% more electricity compared to a year before thanks to new installations.
“The fact that more than every second kilowatt hour of electricity consumed in Germany is now renewable shows that we are on the right track,” says Kerstin Andreae, chair of BDEW.
To decarbonise the power system — Germany aims to get to 80% renewables by 2030 — authorities will need to ensure that the grid is expanded and storage facilities are rapidly built out, Andreae said in a statement. “The federal government must remove any remaining obstacles here.”
Germany has 9.5 GW of battery storage capacity, as of June 2024, according to energy research group Ember, which says the figure could rise to 11.4GW by the end of 2024.
Gas-fired power plants capable of switching to green hydrogen will also be needed as a backup source, Andreae said. The state is preparing to launch tenders for these plants.
According to calculations by Carbon Brief, Germany’s coal power output has fallen by two-thirds over the past decade. And based on current trends, it could almost entirely phase out the fuel by 2030.
However, some analysts say it could’ve completed the shift from coal much sooner had it not decommissioned its nuclear plants first.
At the end of September, the UK became the first Group of Seven country to quit coal power for good.
