Indicator 7.2.b Share of electricity from renewable energy sources in gross electricity consumption

Text from the Indicator Report 2022 

The indicator is calculated by the Working Group on Renewable Energies Statistics (AGEE-Stat) based on different official and unofficial sources. Gross electricity consumption is the sum of all generated and imported electricity minus the amount of exported electricity. It therefore comprises the domestic electricity generation, the balance of exchanges across national borders, the self-consumption of power plants as well as transmission losses. The following are considered to be renewable energy sources: wind energy, hydropower, solar radiation energy, geothermal energy and biomass including biogas, biomethane, landfill gas and gas from purification plants as well as the bio-degradable proportion of waste from households and the industry.

The target set by the German Government in its energy policy blueprint of at least 35 % share of renewable energies on gross electricity consumption by 2020 was already achieved in 2017. In subsequent years, the share maintained an increase up to 45.2 % by 2020. This development was supported by legal measures, for instance the EEG. The EEG requires, among other things, network operators to give priority feed-in to renewable energy. In 2021, the share of renewable energy on gross energy consumption decreased to 41.1 % and, thus, is not moving into the direction of the target value for 2030 in the short-run. This can be explained by an increment in gross electricity consumption and weather-related decline in electricity production from renewable energy sources. However, even if the past long-term trend of previous years continues, the target for 2030 would be missed. Moreover, the previous target of the Federal Government to derive 65 % of the electricity from renewable resources by 2030 would be missed, if the long-term trend continues. The target of 80 % by 2030 could only be achieved if the annual increment would be significantly higher than the previous long-term average. Further, an expected increase in electricity consumption exacerbates the achievement of the target value by 2030.

As in the case of indicator 7.2.a “Share of renewable energies in gross final energy consumption”, with regard to the calculation method it should be noted that external trade in electricity directly influences the denominator of the indicator but not the numerator¹. Regardless of whether electricity is produced from renewable sources, net exports reduce gross electricity consumption, while net imports increase gross electricity consumption. Since 2003, Germany is a net exporter of electricity and reached the preliminary highest point in 2017. As a consequence, the actual share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption is overestimated for the respective period.

Since 2005, the share of renewable energies in electricity generation has risen, particularly because of the increased use of wind power, photovoltaics and biomass. Between 2005 and 2021, declining electricity generation from conventional energy sources was offset by an increase of almost 170 TWh in the production of electricity from renewable sources. In particular, onshore and offshore electricity generation from wind power soared from 27.8 TWh in 2005 to 114 TWh in 2021. Offshore wind farms contributed about 24.4 TWh of the total in 2021. Electricity generation from photovoltaics rose between 2005 and 2021 from 1.3 TWh to 50.0 TWh. Electricity generation from biomass more than trebled in the same period to 50.4 TWh.

¹ This is a purely mathematical effect and does not refer to a correlation between the exchange balance and gross electricity consumption.