Alternative Energy/Country AE Profiles

Germany

General Information and Introduction

"Renewable energy technologies have deployed rapidly in Germany since 1990 largely as a result of energy policies adopted by the German government and the European Union. For example, installed wind capacity has grown by more than 2000% since 1990, biomass by more than 500%, and solar photovoltaic installations by more than 15,000%. While the 1990 baseline for each of these technology areas was very low, the steady rise of renewable energy in Germany is noteworthy nonetheless."1 Germany has set the bar in terms of use of alternative energy technology, and the amount of energy produced from this technology as a share of total electrical output. In 2007, 14.2% of Germany’s electricity supply was from renewable sources. Wind power led the way, producing 39,500 GWh that year, which was 6.4% of Germany’s electricity consumption, almost half of the 14.2% total. Germany is the world leader in solar energy capacity and second to the US in wind energy capacity, with approximately 1.2 GW and 23 GW of installed capacity, respectively. In 2007, Germany’s overall avoided emissions of CO2 were approximately 127 million tons. These positive developments were enabled by the German government’s consistent support of its alternative energy subsidy program, the Feed-in Tariff, since its inception in 1990 (Bohme and Durrschmidt 2008).

AE Capacity or Output

• Germany produced a total of 87,450 GWh of alternative electricity in 2007 (14.2% of the total electricity supply). The technologies that produced this energy are as follows:
  • Wind - 39,500 GWh
  • Hydropower - 20,700 GWh
  • Biomass - 14,230 GWh
  • Bio/sewage/landfill gas - 9,520 GWHh
  • Solar PV - 3,500 GWh
  • Geothermal - 0.4 GWh
  • Tidal/Wave - n/a

Governmental Policies

Germany's main alternative energy support policy is a Feed-in Tariff (FIT). This policy supports alternative energy by offering competitive fixed prices in long-term contracts for electricity from wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, hydropower, and biogas. The contracts are made with alternative energy producers, which is anybody who owns a facility operating the technologies listed above and feeding into the electrical transmission grid. There is no cap on the number of contracts that can be awarded each year for the eligible technologies. The German FIT contracts are set for 20 years. This allows development of alternative energy plants to move forward with guarantees of:

• A competitive price
• A long-term contract
• Interconnection to the electricity grid at no cost to the developer
• The utility’s purchase of all electricity that the renewable power plant produces

The FIT policy creates a market for the alternative energy technologies by making it profitable for individuals, communities and developers to invest in alternative energy projects. The policy does not invest directly in R&D for these technologies, but encourages competition between the companies that produce the technology to make cheaper and more efficient products.