Renewables Now Cover Over Half of German Electricity Use

That’s the conclusion of preliminary calculations made by the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW) and the energy industry association BDEW. Thanks to sunny weather in May, the percent of renewables in the electricity mix reached 57 percent that month. Windy conditions in February also drove a monthly record high of 62 percent. 

Experts hailed these milestones but pointed out that more remained to be done. “Twenty years ago no one thought that we would today get more than half of our electricity from renewables,” said BDEW chairwoman Kerstin Andreae in a statement. “It’s a success that more than 50 percent of Germany’s electricity needs are met with renewables,” added Frithjof Staiss, managing director of the ZSW. “But if we consider that to achieve climate neutrality by 2045, renewables must generate all our electricity by 2035, it’s clear that we need to expand them much faster than we have in the past. The German government has paved the way to accelerate this process. Now everyone involved will have to switch on the turbo in terms of electricity generation technologies and infrastructure, especially the power grid, including the level of distribution networks.”