Germany added close to 10GW in new net onshore wind and solar capacity last year, which brought a “new dynamic in the expansion of renewable energies” amid a flurry of legislative changes to speed up deployment.
For onshore wind installations, the government estimates about 2GW in additions, which would be an increase of 23% from 2021, bringing the total figure of wind on land to close to 58GW.
Some 7.8GW of offshore wind are currently installed, the ministry said, without providing any figure on annual additions.
While solar power installations are rising rapidly, the increase in the onshore wind expansion is much slower, causing concern Germany may not reach the about 10GW in annual additions seen necessary to reach ambitious 2030 climate and renewables goals.
The government has passed a series of laws to speed up the uptake of renewables, among them the so-called Easter Package in April 2022 that said an average of 10GW of onshore wind and 22GW of solar would need to be installed per year this decade.
Reform of Germany’s renewable energy act (EEG) that came into force on 1 January 2023, to speed up green energy deployment among other measures gives renewables the status of being in the ‘overriding public interest.