WOBO thanks “edie” for the link to this article.
The new German coalition has announced big plans to accelerate the energy transition, aiming to “ideally” exit coal by 2030, quadruple solar PV installations on all rooftops and push renewable energy capacity to 80% of the country’s electricity mix by 2030.
Something they kept quiet about though is how much that transition will rely on gas, with a planned 50% increase in gas power generation to replace the coal and nuclear plants that are being phased out.
On Wednesday (24 November), the German Greens entered a so-called “traffic light” coalition alongside the social democrat SPD and the business-friendly liberal FDP.
“Germany is now the first major industrialised country on the way to a truly renewable energy system,” said Green EU lawmaker Sven Giegold, who was among the negotiators in the coalition talks.
The parties’ coalition agreement enshrines an 80% renewable electricity and 50% renewable heating target for 2030, while keeping the country’s planned nuclear exit on track and “ideally” phasing out coal by 2030.
These targets amount to a massive challenge for Germany, which has struggled to expand renewable energy in the past.
“80% renewables at an electricity demand of 750 TWh 2030 corresponds to 600 TWh renewables and the sum total of gross electricity production in 2019,” tweeted analyst Frank Peter of think-tank Agora Energiewende.
To achieve this target, the incoming minister of energy, economy and climate Robert Habeck aims to reserve 2% of land for onshore wind power, more than triple offshore wind capacity (to 30GW) and quadruple solar PV installations (to 200 GW).
“All suitable roof areas are to be used for solar energy in the future,” the parties said in their coalition agreement. While new commercial buildings would be obliged to install solar PV, it should become commonplace for newly built private buildings, it says.
The current renewable energy capacity in Germany is 53GW for solar, 7.7GW for offshore wind and 54GW for onshore wind. Read more….
New German coalition aims for 80% renewable power by 2030