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The share of electricity produced from renewable energy in Germany has increased from 6.3 percent of the national total in 2000 to about 25 percent in the first half of 2012. In 2010, investments totaling 26 billion euros were made in Germany’s renewable energies sector. According to official figures, some 370,000 people in Germany were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2010, especially in small and medium sized companies. This is an increase of around 8 percent compared to 2009 (around 339,500 jobs), and well over twice the number of jobs in 2004 (160,500). About two-thirds of these jobs are attributed to the Renewable Energy Sources Act Germany has been called "the world's first major renewable energy economy". In 2011 20.5% (123.5 TWh) of Germany's electricity supply (603 TWH) was produced from renewable energy sources, more than the 2010 contribution of gas-fired power plants.

Renewable electricity in 2010 was 101.7 TWh including wind power 36.5 TWh, biomass and biowaste 33.5 TWh, hydropower 19.7 TWh and photovoltaic power 12.0 TWh.

Germany was generating about 25 percent of its electricity from coal, about 61 percent from fossil fuels in total, 23 percent from nuclear power and about 15-20 percent from renewable sources in 2009. in 2012 The German electricity sector increased its coal usage by 4.9 percent over its the coal consumption value of 2011. This increase in coal usage was largely due to a power gap in Germany created after the nation shutdown 8 of its 17 nuclear power plants. The shortfall in electricity supply from these 8 power plants, is primarily being filled by building more lignite coal burning power plants. The return to coal in Germany, beginning in 2011, could undermine the nations legal commitment to the kyoto protocol's carbon dioxide reductions.

In 2012, the use of renewable energy is, according to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, causing increased electricity prices, and power outages in the country, and due to these factors, forcing industries to close, move overseas, and the loss of German jobs.

Renewable energy targets

Since the passage of the Directive on Electricity Production from Renewable Energy Sources in 1997, Germany and the other states of the European Union have been working towards a target of 12% renewable electricity by 2010. Germany passed this target early in 2007 when the renewable energy share in electricity consumption in Germany reached 14%. In September 2010 the German government announced the following new ambitious energy targets:

• Renewable electricity - 35% by 2020, 50% by 2030, 65% by 2040, and 80% by 2050
• Renewable energy - 18% by 2020, 30% by 2030, and 60% by 2050
• Energy efficiency - Cutting the total energy consumption by 20% from 2008 by 2020 and 50% less by 2050
• Total electricity consumption - 10% below 2008 level by 2020 and 25% less by 2050

The German Government reports that in 2011 renewable energy (mainly wind turbines and biomass plants) generated more than 123 TWh (billion kilowatt-hours) of electricity, providing nearly 20% of the 603 TWh of electricity supplied.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, along with a vast majority of her compatriots, believes that, "As the first big industrialized nation, we can achieve such a transformation toward efficient and renewable energies, with all the opportunities that brings for exports, developing new technologies and jobs".

Wind power

See main article: Wind power in Germany

Germany is the world's third largest user of wind power, behind China and USA, with an installed capacity of 27,215 MW by the end of 2010. 20,301 wind turbines are located in the German federal area and the country has plans to build more wind turbines.

In 2009, 6.5% of Germany's total electricity consumption was satisfied by wind power. 867 wind power plants were constructed in 2008, and 952 more in 2009. At the end of 2009, Germany possessed 21,614 wind power plants. Their installed electricity production capacity was 25,777 MW.

Wind power currently produces about seven percent of Germany's total power and it is said that no other country has more technological know-how in this area. Wind power in Germany provides over 70,000 people with jobs and German wind energy systems are also exported. However, the economics of wind power in Germany are under close scrutiny and there are other issues which deserve consideration. These include the effects of wind turbines on the landscape, the bird population, and the tourist industry.

Following the 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents, Germany's federal government is working on a new plan for increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy commercialization, with a particular focus on offshore wind farms. Under the plan large wind turbines will be erected far away from the coastlines, where the wind blows more consistently than it does on land, and where the enormous turbines won't bother the inhabitants. The plan aims to decrease Germany's dependence on energy derived from coal and nuclear power plants.

Photovoltaic solar power

In July 2012, there was a cumulative installed total solar PV power of 29.7 GW. Solar PV provided 18 TW·h (billion kilowatt-hours) in 2011, 3% of the total electricit demand. As solar power installations rise fastly, in first half of 2012, about 5.3% of the total electricity demand was covered by solar power. At 25 May 2012, a saturday, solar power reached a new record with feeding 22 GW, as much as 20 nuclear power stations, into the German power grid, which made 50% of the nation's midday's electricity demand.

Some market analysts expect the solar electricity share could reach 25 percent by 2050. Price of PV systems has decreased more than 50% in 5 years since 2006.

Geothermal power

See main article: Geothermal power in Germany

The installed capacity for geothermal energy in Germany was of 8.9 MW in 2007.

Hydroelectricity

The total installed capacity in Germany at the end of 2006 was 4.7 GW. Hydropower meets 3.5% of the electricity demand. Latest estimates show that in Germany in 2007 approx. 9,400 people were employed in the hydropower sector which generated a total turnover of €1.23 billion.

Biofuels

Biofuel and biomass is one of Germany's most important sources of renewable energy. In 2010, 70% of renewable energy was from biomass, mostly from wood.

Germany has committed to blending 6.25% biofuels in petroleum by 2014 with the Biofuels Quota Act.

Renewable energy industry

Source:

Germany's renewable energy sector is among the most innovative and successful worldwide. Nordex, Repower, Fuhrländer and Enercon are wind power companies based in Germany. SolarWorld, Q-Cells and Conergy are solar power companies based in Germany. These companies dominate the world market. Every third solar panel and every second wind rotor is made in Germany, and German turbines and generators used in hydro energy generation are among the most popular worldwide.

Nearly 800,000 people work in the German environment technology sector; an estimated 214,000 people work with renewables in Germany, up from 157,000 in 2004, an increase of 36 percent.

Siemens chief executive, Peter Löscher believes that Germany’s target of generating 35 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2020 is achievable – and, most probably, profitable for Europe’s largest engineering company. Its “environmental solutions” portfolio, which is firmly focused on renewables, is “already generating more than €27 billion a year, 35 per cent of Siemens’ total revenue, and the plan is to grow this to €40 billion by 2015”. Ending its involvement in nuclear industry will boost the credibility of Siemens as a purveyor of “green technology”.

Germany's main competitors in solar electricity are Japan, the US and China. In the wind industry it is Denmark, Spain and the US.

Government policy

The renewable energy sector benefited when the Alliance '90/The Greens party joined the Federal Government between 1998 and 2005. The renewable energy sector was aided especially by the Renewable Energy Sources Act that promotes renewable energy mainly by stipulating feed-in tariffs that grid operators must pay for renewable energy fed into the power grid. People who produce renewable energy can sell their 'product' at fixed prices for a period of 20 or 15 years. This has created a surge in the production of renewable energy. In 2012, Siemens estimated the total cost of renewable energy would come to at least €1.4 trillion (US$1.8 trillion) by 2030.

For the 2005–2010 period the Federal Government set aside nearly 800 million euros for scientific research in the country. That research will be earmarked for policies of long-term development. Additionally, in 2001 a law was passed requiring the closing of all nuclear power plants within a period of 32 years. The shutdown time was extended to 2040 by a new government in 2010. After the Fukushima incident, the law was abrogated and the end of nuclear energy was set to 2022.

The cost of replacing Germany's nuclear power generation with renewable energy has been officially estimated by the German Ministry of Economics at about €0.01/(kW·h) (about €55 billion for the next decade), on top of the €13 billion per year already devoted to subsidizing renewables. However, unofficial estimates of the ministry, and of the Rhenish-Westphalian Institute for Economic Research (RWI), German Energy Agency (DENA), Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZBV), and the government-owned development bank (KfW), put the cost several times higher, at about €250 billion ($340 B) over the next decade.

The German energy policy is framed within the European Union, and the March 2007 European Council in Brussels approved a mandatory energy plan that requires a 20% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions before the year 2020 and the consumption of renewable energies to be 20% of total EU consumption (compared to 7% in 2006). The accord indirectly acknowledged the role of nuclear energy — which is not renewable, but emissions-free — in the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gasses, allowing each member state to decide whether or not to use nuclear generated electricity.

Also a compromise was reached to achieve a minimum quota of 10% Biofuels in the total consumption of gasoline and diesel in transport in 2020.

Criticism

A 2009 study from RWI Essen of the effects of the Renewable Energy Sources Act concluded that:

• using photovoltaics in emission reduction is 53 times more expensive than the European Union Emission Trading Scheme's market price, while wind power is 4 times more expensive, thereby discouraging other industries from finding more cost-effective methods of reducing emissions;
• although renewable energy subsidies increase retail electricity rates by 3%, they reduce the profits of German electrical utilities by an average of 8%, making them less competitive with other European utilities;
• despite lavish subsidies, Germany's photovoltaic industry is losing its market share to other countries, particularly China and Japan;
• it stifles renewable energy innovation by arbitrarily awarding subsidies to different technologies, instead of according to their cost-effectiveness.

Germany's Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety responded to the RWI Essen study, describing the criticisms as "well known and refuted a long time ago".

Statistics

Increases in installed renewable electric power capacity and generation in recent years is shown in the table below:

See also

• Energy in Germany
• Energy policy of the European Union
• Renewable energy in the European Union
• Passivhaus
• Renewable energy commercialization
• List of countries by renewable electricity production
• Germany National Renewable Energy Action Plan
• Berlin Declaration (2007)
• Wildpoldsried
• German Solar Industry Association

References

1. Crossing the 20 Percent Mark. Green Energy Use Jumps in Germany
2. Erneuerbare Energien liefern mehr als ein Viertel des Stroms (in German)
3. Renewable Energy Sources in Figures - National and International Development
4. Germany Leads Way on Renewables, Sets 45% Target by 2030
5. Germany: The World's First Major Renewable Energy Economy
6. ^ "Development of Renewable Energy Sources in 2011" (PDF). December 2012.
7. Paul Gipe (25 March 2011). "New Record for German Renewable Energy in 2010". Renewable Energy World.
8. Renewable energy sources 2010 23 March 2011 Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
9. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-19/merkel-s-green-shift-forces-germany-to-burn-more-coal-energy.html
10. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=germany-to-shut-down-seven-reactors-temporarily-2011-03-15
11. http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2012/08/01/generating-companies-are-shuttering-coal-plants-at-record-rates-eia-reports/ Germany is generating about 25 percent of its electricity from coal, having increased coal consumption by ~3.3 percent last year. The power gap in Germany, created by the shutdown of eight nuclear power stations, is largely being filled by lignite coal.
12. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-19/merkel-s-green-shift-forces-germany-to-burn-more-coal-energy.html
13. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/new-coal-fired-plants-could-be-key-to-german-energy-revolution-a-854335.html
14. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2012/08/31/germany-insane-or-just-plain-stupid/
15. http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/merkel-s-switch-to-renewables-rising-energy-prices-endanger-german-industry-a-816669.html
16. Share in electricity supply has gone up to 14 per cent
17. The Federal Government's energy concept of 2010 and the transformation of the energy system of 2011 p. 5
18. Alexander Ochs (2012-03-16). "The End of the Atomic Dream: One Year After Fukushima, the Shortfalls of Nuclear Energy Are Clearer Than Ever". Worldwatch.
19. "World Wind Energy Report 2010" (PDF). Report. World Wind Energy Association. February 2011. Retrieved 8-August-2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
20. ^ Wind energy in Germany -- overview
21. Entwicklung der erneuerbaren Energian in Deutschland im Jahr 2009, p.7. Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz and Reaktorsicherheit. March 2010.
22. Germany's wind farms challenged
23. Stefan Schultz (March 23, 2011). "Will Nuke Phase-Out Make Offshore Farms Attractive?". Spiegel Online.
24. Entwicklung des deutschen PV-Marktes Jan-Jul 2012 (German)
25. Erneuerbare Energien liefern mehr als ein Viertel des Stroms
26. Germany sets new solar power record, institute says
27. Another Sunny Year for Solar Power
28. BSW-Solar, Statistische Zahlen der deutschen Solarstrombranche (Photovoltaik), Oct 2011
29. World Geothermal Generation in 2007
30. General information - Hydropower
31. General Information - Biomass
32. Bundesministeriums der Justiz in Zusammenarbeites mit der juris. August 9, 2009. Verordnung über Anforderungen an eine nachhaltige Herstellung von Biokraftstoffen (Biokraftstoff-Nachhaltigkeitsverordnung - Biokraft-NachV).
33. BioenergyWiki: Policy implementation in Germany
34. ^ Green energy boom in Germany
35. "Nuclear sunset?". The Irish Times. September 23, 2011.
36. Renewable Energy Sources in Germany - key information 2009 at a glance
37. "Eye-watering cost of renewable revolution". World Nuclear News. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
38. Neubacher, Alexander (27 July 2011). "The Latte Fallacy: German Switch to Renewables Likely to Be Expensive". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 22 September 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
39. Nicola, Stefan (19 September 2011). "KfW to Provide 100 Billion Euros to Aid German Energy Transition". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 22 September 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
40. EU2007.de - Historical agreement on climate protection
41. Frondel, Manuel; Ritter, Nolan; Vance, Colin (2009), Economic impacts from the promotion of renewable energies: The German experience (PDF) {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
42. BMU response to renewed criticism of EEG by RWI: Well known and refuted a long time ago
43. Böhme, Dieter (February 2012). "Entwicklung der erneuerbaren Energien in Deutschland im Jahr 2011" (PDF). Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. Retrieved 4 March 2012.

External links

• Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety - Renewable Energy
• Renewable energies push up electricity prices in Germany
• For German Homeowners, Renewable Energy is No Longer a Choice
• Germany's Energy Insecurity
• Climate, Energy, and Environment Overview from the German Department of State
• German Energy Blog
• Official site about renewable Energy in the Emscher-Lippe-Region

• Renewable energy in Germany