Germany met more than half its energy needs with renewables in 2023

December 20, 2023

Abstract : More than half of Germany's electricity consumption will have been climate neutral for the first time in 2023, according to leading renewable energy research bodies.

CAPTION: Germany met more than half its energy needs with renewables in 2023. (picture alliance/dpa/Sina Schuldt)

More than half of Germany's electricity consumption will have been climate neutral for the first time in 2023, according to leading renewable energy research bodies.

According to projections by the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), renewable energies accounted for just under 52% of gross electricity consumption in the year under review, which is 5 percentage points more than in the previous year.

ZSW and BDEW assume that total gross electricity consumption in 2023 will be around 517.3 billion kilowatt hours, according to the figures made available to dpa.

Renewables accounted for particularly high shares in July at 59%, May at 57% and October and November at 55% of energy consumption in Germany.

In June, electricity generation from sunlight reached a new all-time record of 9.8 billion kilowatt hours.

Onshore wind energy set a new annual record with 113.5 billion kilowatt hours. At 267 billion kilowatt hours, more climate-neutral electricity was generated than ever before.

"The figures show that we are on the right track," explained Kerstin Andreae, chairwoman of the BDEW executive board.

However, the path to a completely climate-neutral electricity supply is not a sure-fire success, she said.

"We can only achieve the second 50% if politicians continue to consistently remove all obstacles to the expansion of renewables."

The decision taken at the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, or COP28, to move away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas requires the expansion of renewable energies in completely new dimensions, emphasized ZSW board member Frithjof Staiß.

Renewable electricity is also necessary for the extraction of carbon dioxide from the air with the help of so-called direct air capture plants. The CO2 obtained in this way, together with green hydrogen, could serve as a carbon source for the future demand for hydrocarbons.

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