The Federal Environment Agency assumes that the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption in this area will increase significantly. However, a lot still needs to be done to achieve the climate targets. The main problem is the expansion of wind power.
With a view to the energy transition, it is actually good news: Green electricity producers were able to produce around nine percent more electricity than in the previous year. The reason is the sunny weather, writes the Federal Environment Agency. Since electricity demand fell slightly in 2022, the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption is expected to increase significantly this year from 41 percent in 2021 to around 46 percent. However, the expansion of renewable energy must be increased significantly in order to meet the goals of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG).
Overall, gross electricity generation this year is expected to be well above previous years at 256 terawatt hours (TWh) – in 2021 it was 233.6 TWh. However, in order to cover the targeted 80 percent of gross German electricity consumption with renewable electricity in 2030, around 600 TWh of electricity will be required. This means that green electricity generation will have to more than double in the next eight years.
Now the expansion of some renewable energy segments, such as heat pumps and solar thermal, increased. However, there is a problem with wind energy. According to the Federal Environment Agency, this continues to show little dynamism. “Although the expansion targets for photovoltaics and wind energy on land from the EEG 2021 for 2022 were achieved, the achievement of these first, rather moderately ambitious intermediate steps cannot be regarded as a great success,” says Dirk Messner, President of the Federal Environment Agency. “Now it is particularly important to set in motion all possible levers to accelerate the expansion of wind energy on land, which is so important.”
According to the Federal Environment Agency, photovoltaics and wind energy were the main pillars of renewable electricity production this year. In 2021, the number of photovoltaic systems increased, which, in addition to the sunny weather, led to significantly more solar power this year. While it was 50 TWh last year, it should be 61 TWh this year. The share of wind energy has also increased, from 113 to 128 TWh. It should be noted here that the previous year was quite windless. In 2020 it was 132.1 TWh. This could be due to the still very low level of plant expansion.
In the heating sector, there was a significant drop in total energy consumption due to the mild weather in 2022 and not least due to the savings measures resulting from the war in Ukraine. In contrast, the consumption of renewable energies for heating purposes was more than 200 TWh, around 1 percent more than in 2021.
According to the Federal Environment Agency, the decisive course for a successful expansion process must be set promptly. Only then would there be any hope of achieving climate goals and overcoming dependence on Russian natural gas and fossil fuels.
