Energy Efficiency
Germany Earns High Marks for Net-Zero
Europe’s largest economy leads the way in a new European Union report on net-zero manufacturing in member states.
Jan 23, 2025
“Germany is a major manufacturing hub across several net-zero technologies” – that was the central conclusion of the new report.
In terms of manufacturing, German capacity amounts to between 7.8 and 11.2 gigawatts (36-53 percent of EU capacity) of solar PV annually, between 55 and 60 GWh/y (21-23 percent of total EU capacity) of battery and storage technologies, and between 3.3 and 3.5 GW/y (59-63% of EU capacity) for electrolyzers.
The figures for industrial production were similar. Germany’s three largest net-zero industries by value are wind power, with production amounting to EUR 29.9 billion (31 percent of the EU total), EUR 20.4 billion (27 percent of the EU total) for grid technologies, and EUR 19.4 billion (24% of the EU) for solar PV and thermal.
In addition, the report noted: “Germany is the largest EU exporter of heat pumps and geothermal technologies, with high export growth and a higher RCA (revealed comparative advantage) index than international competitors such as China and the USA. Germany is also a competitive exporter of grid technologies.”
The report praised various elements of Germany’s regulatory and incentive landscape for encouraging German net-zero manufacturing excellence.
