Renewables share in Germany's energy mix falls to 42% in 2021

Renewable energy accounted for 42% of the total electricity consumption in Germany in 2021, compared with nearly 46% in the prior year, and the decline was primarily due to lower electricity production from wind power in the first half of the year.

Electricity generation from solar energy grew by almost 5% to 51 billion kWh but this was not enough to compensate for the big number of windless days in the spring, according to preliminary estimates by the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) and the Solar and Hydrogen Research Centre Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW).

Onshore wind turbines produced 92 billion kWh of electricity in 2021, down from over 105 billion kWh in 2020, but remained the most significant source of green energy in the country. Offshore parks added 25 billion kWh this year compared with 27 billion kWh in the prior year.

The decline in wind power generation was combined with a rise in electricity consumption as a result of the economic recovery through the year which further dented the share of renewables in the energy mix.

The new German government set ambitious goals for the expansion of renewables, targeting a share of 80% in 2030. To reach this target, Berlin must remove restrictions and hurdles to the addition of new green power capacity, especially when it comes to the planning and approval process and the identification of areas for both onshore and offshore wind projects, said BDEW's head Kerstin Andreae.

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