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Overview

The share of renewable energies in Germany's gross electricity consumption reached over 46 percent in 2022. This was four percentage points more than in 2021. On the one hand, this was due to favorable weather for photovoltaic and wind power plants. On the other hand, less electricity was also consumed in the shade of the energy crisis.

The increase in renewable energies can now look back on a long success story. For effective climate protection, a share of 100 % should be targeted well before 2040. To achieve this, however, the pace of deployment will have to be stepped up considerably. It will not be possible to comply with the Paris climate protection agreement with the current low rate of expansion.

The consumption sectors heat and transport are not considered here. In the course of the transformation of our energy system known as sector coupling, electricity consumption will increase in the future: Heat pumps and electromobility offer alternatives without fossil fuels. The expansion of renewables must also keep pace with this rising demand in the future.

Until the early 1990s, only one renewable source had a significant share of electricity generation in Germany: hydroelectric power. While the share of the hydroelectric power was still well over 20 percent in the middle of the 20th century, this share has declined in the past decades due to the sharp increase in consumption despite further expansion of hydroelectric power. Since the mid-1990s, wind power has gained a noticeable share of renewable generation. In 2004, it overtook hydroelectric power as the most important source of renewable energy and has been in undisputed first place ever since. In 2007, electricity generation from biomass came in second place ahead of hydroelectric power for the first time. In 2012, photovoltaics also overtook hydroelectric power, and in 2022, biomass. In 2014, renewables produced more electricity than lignite for the first time. Conventional power plants are being pushed back more and more, so that they can only maintain their generation volumes through increased exports.

The following tables and figure show the respective absolute generation of the different renewable energy sources in Germany since 1990.

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Year	Hydroelectric power1,A	Onshore windA	Offshore windA
2022	17,1	102,7	25,4
2021	19,7	90,3	24,4
2020	18,7	104,8	27,3
2019	20,1	101,2	24,7
2018	18,1	90,5	19,5
2017	20,2	88,0	17,7
2016	20,5	67,7	12,3
2015	19,0	72,3	8,3
2014	19,6	57,0	1,5
2013	23,0	51,8	0,9
2012	21,8	50,9	0,7
2011	17,7	49,3	0,6
2010	21,0	38,4	0,2
2009	19,0	39,4	0,0
2008	20,4	41,4	0,0
2007	21,2	40,5	0,0
2006	20,0	31,3	0,0
2005	19,6	27,8	0,0
2004	20,7	26,0	0,0
2003	18,3	19,1	0,0
2002	23,7	15,8
2001	23,2	10,5
2000	24,9	9,5
1999	20,7	5,5
1998	19,0	4,5
1997	19,0	3,0
1996	18,8	2,0
1995	21,6	1,5
1994	20,2	0,9
1993	19,0	0,6
1992	18,6	0,3
1991	15,9	0,1
1990	19,7	n/a

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Year	Biomass2,A	Photo­voltaicsA	Geo­thermalA
2022	49,7	60,7	0,3
2021	50,0	49,3	0,2
2020	50,9	49,5	0,2
2019	50,1	45,2	0,2
2018	50,8	44,3	0,2
2017	50,9	38,8	0,2
2016	50,9	37,6	0,2
2015	50,3	38,1	0,1
2014	48,3	35,4	0,1
2013	45,5	30,6	0,1
2012	43,2	26,7	0,0
2011	36,9	20,0	0,0
2010	33,9	12,0	0,0
2009	30,9	6,7	0,0
2008	28,0	4,5	0,0
2007	24,6	3,1	0,0
2006	18,9	2,3	0,0
2005	14,7	1,3	0,0
2004	10,6	0,6	0,0
2003	8,9	0,3	0,0
2002	6,4	0,2	0,0
2001	5,2	0,1	0,0
2000	3,4	0,0	0,0
1999	2,9	0,0
1998	2,7	0,0
1997	2,3	0,0
1996	2,1	0,0
1995	2,0	0,0
1994	1,9	0,0
1993	1,7	0,0
1992	1,6	0,0
1991	1,5	0,0
1990	n/a	n/a

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Year	Total renewableA	Gross consump­tion excl. PSE3,A	Renewables shareB
2022	255,9	549,8	46,5%
2021	233,9	565,3	41,4%
2020	251,5	549,2	45,8%
2019	241,6	569,6	42,4%
2018	223,3	586,0	38,1%
2017	215,7	593,8	36,3%
2016	189,1	593,0	31,9%
2015	188,1	592,8	31,7%
2014	161,9	586,8	27,6%
2013	151,9	599,7	25,3%
2012	143,4	602,3	23,8%
2011	124,4	603,3	20,6%
2010	105,4	611,3	17,2%
2009	96,1	577,9	16,6%
2008	94,4	614,7	15,4%
2007	89,4	617,2	14,5%
2006	72,6	615,8	11,8%
2005	63,4	611,2	10,4%
2004	58,0	609,2	9,5%
2003	46,7	601,0	7,8%
2002	46,1	582,6	7,9%
2001	38,9	580,6	6,7%
2000	37,9	575,1	6,6%
1999	29,2	553,3	5,3%
1998	26,2	551,4	4,8%
1997	24,2	545,3	4,4%
1996	23,0	541,9	4,2%
1995	25,1	536,2	4,7%
1994	23,0	525,8	4,4%
1993	21,2	523,3	4,1%
1992	20,5	529,1	3,9%
1991	17,5	536,0	3,3%
1990	19,7	550,7	3,6%