Renewable energies will have covered a total of 47 per cent of gross electricity consumption for 2022 in Germany. This is shown by preliminary calculations of the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).
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This means that the share increased by five percentage points compared to the same period last year. The increase was mainly due to the windy beginning of the year with record values in electricity generation from onshore wind energy and the sunny summer months. There were also slight increases in offshore wind energy and biomass.
The generation figures in detail
According to preliminary calculations, a total of about 574 billion kilowatt hours (billion kWh) of electricity were generated in 2022 - just under two per cent less than in 2021 (2021: 585 billion kWh). Of this, 256 billion kWh came from renewable energies (2021: 237.1 billion kWh): Onshore wind power plants accounted for the largest share of renewable electricity generation with 99 billion kWh (2021: 90.6 billion kWh). Photovoltaic plants supplied a good 62 billion kWh (2021: 51.4 billion kWh), closely followed by biomass (including the biogenic share of municipal waste) with just under 47 billion kWh (2021: a good 45.4 billion kWh). Around 25 billion kWh of electricity came from offshore wind turbines (2021: 24.4 billion kWh). Hydropower plants supplied just under 18 billion kWh (2021: 19.4 billion kWh).
Green electricity share: Two ways to calculate
The most common way of calculating the share of green electricity is to measure it against gross electricity consumption. It goes back to European requirements and is in line with the Federal Government's target definitions for the expansion of renewable energies. Gross electricity consumption represents the entire electricity system of a country and, according to preliminary calculations, amounts to just under 547 billion kWh in 2022 (2021: 564.2 billion kWh).
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Another way is to measure the share of renewable energies in gross electricity generation. It includes the total amount of electricity generated in Germany, i.e. also the exported electricity. The share of renewable energies in 2022 based on gross electricity generation is just under 45 per cent (2021: 40.5 per cent). (mfo)
