Germany's 2025 renewables share goal “within reach” - think tank

CORRECTION: Research institute Fraunhofer ISE calculates the share of renewables based on net power generation, which excludes self-production by industrial companies or own-consumption of power plants. [Changes to show that net power generation does not include self-production by industrial companies or own-consumption of power plants.]

The share of renewables in Germany's gross power consumption climbed to 38.2 percent in 2018, think tank Agora Energiewende* says in a press release. This meant that Germany's target of 40 to 45 percent by 2025 - set in the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) - is "within reach". "If this year's increase of 2.1 percentage points is continued on a linear basis, the target will already be reached in 2022," write the researchers. At the current speed of renewables expansion, Germany would reach a share of 63.4 percent in 2030, just short of the government coalition's 65 percent target. "Additional efforts are therefore needed to reach the target," writes Agora.
Power production from renewable sources in Germany has equalled that from coal power plants in 2018. The share of wind power, solar power and other renewables in gross power production reached 35.2 percent last year, equalling that of lignite and hard coal plants combined, the think tank says. The rise in solar power production in one of the sunniest years on record in Germany contributed to the growing share of renewable electricity, while a relatively mild winter led to lower energy consumption as well as lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The German government's goal to bring the renewables share to 65 percent by 2030 refers to gross power consumption, which takes the country's export balance into account in the calculations (= gross power production + imports - exports). Research institute Fraunhofer ISE calculates the share of renewables based on net power generation, which excludes self-production by industrial companies or own-consumption of power plants. Fraunhofer put the renewables share at 40.4 percent. Energy market research group AG Energiebilanzen (AGEB) published preliminary full-year data in December 2018, which - like Agora Energiewende - said that renewables contributed 35.2 percent of gross electricity generation that year.

*Like the Clean Energy Wire, Agora Energiewende is a project funded by Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation.