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{{Short description|None}}{{Lead rewrite|date=December 2023}}{{Use British English|date=October 2022}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}(File:Lisberg Burg Windräder Solar power PC313027.jpg|thumb|Wind turbines and solar panels at Lisberg Castle in Germany)(File:Energy mix in Germany.svg|thumb|Energy mix of Germany)Energy in Germany is obtained for the vast majority from fossil sources, accounting for 77.6% of total energy consumption in 2023, followed by renewables at 19.6%, and 0.7% nuclear power.WEB, 22 December 2023, Germany's energy consumption and power mix in charts,weblink 2024-01-08, Clean Energy Wire, en, As of 2023, German primary energy consumption amounted to 10,791 Petajoule, making it the ninth largest global primary energy consumer. The total consumption has been steadily declining from its peak of 14,845 Petajoule in 2006.WEB,weblink Primary energy consumption worldwide in 2022, by country, 11 January 2024, 24 November 2023,weblink live, In 2023 Germany's gross electricity production reached 508.1 TWh, down from 569.2 TWh in 2022, and 631.4 TWh in 2013. Key to Germany's energy policies and politics is the "Energiewende", meaning "energy turnaround" or "energy transformation". The policy includes nuclear phaseout (completed in 2023) and progressive replacement of fossil fuels by renewables. The nuclear electricity production lost in Germany's phase-out was primarily replaced with coal electricity production and electricity importing. One study found that the nuclear phase-out caused $12 billion in social costs per year, primarily due to increases in mortality due to exposure to pollution from fossil fuels.JOURNAL, Jarvis, Stephen, Deschenes, Olivier, Jha, Akshaya, 2019, The Private and External Costs of Germany's Nuclear Phase-Out,weblink Journal of the European Economic Association, 20, 3, 1311–1346, 10.1093/jeea/jvac007,weblink 11 October 2022, 7 April 2022, bot: unknown, Germany has been called "the world's first major renewable energy economy".WEB,weblink Germany: The World's First Major Renewable Energy Economy, 24 January 2012, 29 March 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150329212358weblink">weblink dead, Fraunhofer ISE, Electricity production from solar and wind in Germany – New record in wind power production, p.2 15 December 2014Prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany was highly dependent on Russian energy, accounting for half of its natural gas, a third of heating oil, and half of its coal imports from Russia.NEWS, Eddy, Melissa, 5 April 2022, Why Germany Can't Just Pull the Plug on Russian Energy, en-US, The New York Times,weblink 7 April 2022, 0362-4331, 7 April 2022,weblink live, {{Citation |last=Gross |first=Stephen G. |title=The Energy Entanglement of Germany and Russia |date=2023 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197667712.003.0010 |work=Energy and Power |pages=238–266 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/oso/9780197667712.003.0010 |isbn=978-0-19-766771-2}} Due to this reliance, Germany blocked, delayed or watered down EU proposals to cut Russian energy imports amid the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.NEWS, Guarascio, Francesco, 7 April 2022, EU's full ban on Russian coal to be pushed back to mid-August -sources, en, Reuters,weblink 7 April 2022, 7 April 2022,weblink live, NEWS, Wearden, Graeme, Rankin, Jennifer, Elliott, Larry, Neate, Rupert, Jolly, Jasper, Davies, Rob, 7 March 2022, German chancellor Scholz pushes back against Russian energy import ban, as oil and gas climb – as it happened, en-GB, The Guardian,weblink 7 April 2022, 0261-3077, 7 April 2022,weblink live, NEWS, 4 April 2022, Germany resists EU ban on Russian gas as bloc prepares new sanctions, en, Reuters,weblink 7 April 2022, 6 April 2022,weblink live, However, the Russian invasion resulted in a radical shift in Germany's energy policy, with the goal of being almost completely independent of Russian energy imports by mid-2024.WEB, 25 March 2022, Germany Targets End to Russian Gas Imports by Middle of 2024,weblink BNN Bloomberg, en-ca, 24 August 2022, 24 August 2022,weblink live,

Energy statistics

{|class=wikitable|+Electricity in 2020 (TWh)!Category!!Amount

|500.35

|545.20

|48.05

|66.93

{|class=wikitable|+Natural gas in 2020 (billion m3)|87.55

|5.13

|83.12

{|class=wikitable|+Crude Oil in 2020 (barrels)|856,470,000

|49,280,000

|628,020,000

CO2 emissions in 2020: 603.35 million tons

Energy plan

The plan for 2030 aims for 80% of electricity from renewables.

Energy consumption

(File:Fossil fuel consumption in Germany.svg|thumb|Fossil fuel consumption in Germany, including combined former East and West from 1980 to 2011 from EIA data. Use of coal declined significantly after reunification.)In 2019, Germany was the sixth largest consumer of energy in the world. The country also had the largest national market of electricity in Europe. Germany is the fifth-largest consumer of oil in the world, with oil accounting for 34.3% of all energy use in 2018, with another 23.7% coming from natural gas.

Energy imports

In 2021, Germany imported 63.7% of its energy.About 98% of oil consumed in Germany is imported. In 2021, Russia supplied 34.1% of crude oil imports, the US 12.5%, Kazakhstan 9.8% and Norway 9.6%.In 2021, Germany was the world's largest importer of natural gas, which covered more than a quarter of primary energy consumption in Germany. Around 95% of Germany's natural gas was imported, of which around half is re-exported. 55% of gas imports came from Russia, 30% from Norway and 13% from the Netherlands. As of 2022, Germany does not have LNG terminals, so all gas imports use pipelines. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany announced that it wanted to build an LNG terminal at the North Sea port of Brunsbüttel to improve energy security.WEB,weblink Ukraine war: Tracking the impacts on German energy and climate policy, 18 March 2022, 18 March 2022, 28 February 2022,weblink live, Due to its rich coal deposits, Germany has a long tradition of using coal. It was the fourth-largest consumer of coal in the world as of 2016.WEB,weblink Germany Coal Reserves and Consumption Statistics - Worldometer, 18 March 2022, 25 March 2022,weblink live, Domestic hard coal mining has been completely phased out in 2018, as it could not compete with cheaper sources elsewhere and had survived only through subsidies. As of 2022, only lignite is still mined in Germany. After ending domestic production in 2018, Germany imported all 31.8 million tonnes of the hard coal it consumed in 2020. The biggest suppliers were Russia (45.4%), the United States (18.3%) and Australia (12.3%).In 2023, Germany's natural gas imports declined by 32.6%, to 968 terawatt hours (TWh).NEWS, 2024-01-04, Germany cut gas imports by a third in 2023 -regulator,weblink Reuters, This was attributed to greater energy saving and a decrease in gas exports. The top sources for the import natural gas were Norway (43%), the Netherlands (26%), and Belgium (22%).

Electricity production

(File:Germany electricity production.svg|thumb|Germany electricity production by source|350px)(File:Germany renewable electricity production.svg|thumb|Germany renewable electricity production by source|350px){{Current German electricity by source}}

Sources of power

Fossil fuels

Coal power

File:Nuclear plant at Grafenrheinfeld.jpg|thumb|Grafenrheinfeld Power Plant ]]Coal is the second-largest source of electricity in Germany. {{Asof|2020}}, around 24% of the electricity in the country is generated from coal. This was down from 2013, when coal made up about 45% of Germany's electricity production (19% from hard coal and 26% from lignite). Nonetheless, in the first half of 2021, coal was the largest source of electricity in the country.WEB,weblink Germany: Coal tops wind as primary electricity source, 13 September 2021, Deutsche Welle, 16 September 2021, 16 September 2021,weblink live, Germany is also a major producer of coal. Lignite is extracted in the extreme western and eastern parts of the country, mainly in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Sachsen and Brandenburg. Considerable amounts are burned in coal plants near the mining areas to produce electricity and transporting lignite over far distances is not economically feasible; therefore, the plants are located near the extraction sites. Bituminous coal is mined in Nordrhein-Westfalen and Saarland. Most power plants burning bituminous coal operate on imported material, therefore, the plants are located not only near to the mining sites, but throughout the country.German coal-fired power plants are being designed and modified so they can be increasingly flexible to support the fluctuations resulting from increased renewable energy. Existing power plants in Germany are designed to operate flexibly. Load following is achieved by German natural gas combined cycle plants and coal-fired power plants. New coal-fired power plants have a minimum load capability of approximately 40%, with further potential to reduce this to 20–25%. The reason is that the output of the coal boiler is controlled via direct fuel combustion and not, as is the case with a gas combined-cycle power plant, via a heat recovery steam generator with an upstream gas turbine.Germany has been opening new coal power plants until recently{{When|date=April 2021}}, following a 2007 plan to build 26 new coal plants. This has been controversial in light of Germany's commitment to curbing carbon emissions. By 2015, the growing share of renewable energy in the national electricity market (26% in 2014, up from 4% in 1990) and the government's mandated CO2 emission reduction targets (40% below 1990 levels by 2020; 80% below 1990 levels by 2050) have increasingly curtailed previous plans for new, expanded coal power capacity.On 26 January 2019, a group of federal and state leaders as well as industry representatives, environmentalists, and scientists made an agreement to close all 84 coal plants in the country by 2038.The move is projected to cost {{euro}}40 billion in compensation alone to closed businesses.Coal was used to generate almost 40% of the country's electricity in 2018 and is expected to be replaced by renewable energy and natural gas.WEB, Germany to invest in gas-fired plants in coming decades,weblink 17 November 2020, Anadolu Agency, 30 November 2020,weblink live, 24 coal plants are planned to be closed by 2022 with all but 8 closed by 2030.The final date is expected to be assessed every 3 years.In 2019 the import of coal rose 1.4% compared with 2018.The phasing out of black coal (anthracite) was brought forward in 2023 by 8 years to 2030, there is no agreement yet on phasing out brown coal (lignite) WEB, Europe in brief: Germany plans to build hydrogen and gas-fired power plants,weblink 4 August 2023, although the EU gave approval in late 2023 for a €2.6 billion compensation payment to RWE to phase out lignite in the Rhine region.WEB, EU approves Germany's payments for early coal exit, Deutsche Welle,weblink 11 December 2023,

Natural gas

National energy policy has shifted towards utilizing natural gas to replace coal and serve as a complementary fuel source as green energy projects are developed. The seaports of Lubin, Brunsbuettel, Stade, and Wilhelmshaven utilize floating liquefied natural gas floating storage and regasification units to import gas.Vera Eckert, Barbara Lewis and Jan Harvey. (22 June 2023). "Germany builds up LNG import terminals". Reuters website Retrieved 24 September 2023.

Renewable energy

File:Schneebergerhof 01.jpg|thumb|Photovoltaic array and wind turbines at the Schneebergerhof wind farm in the German state of Rheinland-PfalzRheinland-Pfalz{|class=wikitable|+Years in which the last three renewable power levels achieved!Achievement!!Year !!Achievement!!Year !!Achievement!!Year

				| 2017

Renewable energy includes wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy sources.The share of electricity produced from renewable energy in Germany has increased from 6.3 per cent of the national total in 2000 to 46.2 per cent in 2022.WEB,weblink Erneuerbare Energien in Zahlen, 10 June 2013, Germany renewable power market grew from 0.8 million residential customers in 2006 to 4.9 million in 2012, or 12.5% of all private households in the country.In end of 2011, the cumulative installed total of renewable power was 65.7GW. Although Germany does not have a very sunny climate, solar photovoltaic power made up 4% of annual electricity consumption. On 25 May 2012, a Saturday, solar power reached a new record, injecting 22 GW of power into the German power grid. This met 50% of the nation's mid-day electricity demand on that day.In 2016, renewable energy based electricity generation reached 29.5%, but coal remained a factor at 40.1% of total generation. Wind was the leading renewable source at 12.3%, followed by biomass at 7.9% and solar PV at 5.9%.In 2020, renewable energy reached a share of 50.9% on the German public grid. Wind power made up 27% of total generation, and solar made up 10.5%. Biomass made up 9.7%, and hydro power made up 3.8%. The largest single non-renewable source was brown coal, with 16.8% of generation, followed by nuclear with 12.5%, then hard coal at 7.3%. Gas mainly provides peaking services, allowing for a generation share of 11.6%.WEB, Energy Charts,weblink 16 April 2021, energy-charts.info, 16 April 2021,weblink live, {{Image frame }}}}{{Image frame }}}}

Solar power

In 2022 Germany had 66.5 GW of solar power capacity, which generated 62 terawatt hours of power from 2.65 million individual installations.WEB, German solar power capacity in 2022 sees fast growth, still well below target,weblink 3 February 2023,

Wind power

In March 2023 there were around 28,500 turbines in operation in Germany with a combined capacity of 58.5 GW.Offshore wind in Germany is expected to reach 115 GW by 2030.

Bioenergy

In October 2016 the German Biomass Research Center ((:de:Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum|Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum)) (DBFZ) launched an online biomass atlas for researchers, investors and the interested public.

Nuclear power

Nuclear power has been a topical political issue in recent decades, with continuing debates about when the technology should be phased out. A coalition government of Gerhard Schröder took the decision in 2002 to phase out all nuclear power by 2022. The topic received renewed attention at the start of 2007 due to the political impact of the Russia-Belarus energy dispute and in 2011 after the Fukushima I nuclear accidents in Japan. Within days of the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, large anti-nuclear protests occurred in Germany. Protests continued and, on 29 May 2011, Merkel's government announced that it would close all of its nuclear power plants by 2022. Eight of the seventeen operating reactors in Germany were permanently shut down following Fukushima in 2011. The last operational German reactors closed down in April 2023.WEB, Nuclear Power in Germany,weblink April 2023,

Energy efficiency

(File:GET en Germany’s plan- drive down energy demand-.png|thumb|German Energy Efficiency Targets)The energy efficiency bottom-up index for the whole economy (ODEX) in Germany decreased by 18% between 1991 and 2006, which is equivalent to an energy efficiency improvement by 1.2% per annum on average based on the ODEX, which calculates technical efficiency improvements. Since the beginning of the new century, however, the efficiency improvement measured by the ODEX has slowed down. While a continuous decrease by 1.5%/y could be observed between 1991 and 2001, the decrease in the period from 2001 to 2006 only amounted to 0.5%, which is below the EU-27 level.By 2030 the German Federal Ministry of the Economy projects an increase in electricity consumption to 658 TWh. The expected increase is due to an expected uptick in electric mobility, more heating through electric heat-pumps, and production of batteries and hydrogen.WEB, Heft 02-2022,weblink Wirtschaftsministerium rechnet mit 658 TWh Stromverbrauch 2030 - ERNEUERBARE ENERGIEN, de, Erneuerbareenergien.de, 17 November 2021, 12 April 2022, 17 November 2021,weblink live,

Government energy policy

Germany was the fourth-largest producer of nuclear power in the world, but in 2000, the government and the German nuclear power industry agreed to phase out all nuclear power plants by 2021, as a result of an initiative with a vote result of 513 Yes, 79 No and 8 Empty. The seven oldest reactors were permanently closed after the Fukushima accident. However, being an integral part of the EU's internal electricity market, Germany will continue to consume foreign nuclear electricity even after 2022.In September 2010, Merkel's government reached a late-night deal which would see the country's 17 nuclear plants run, on average, 12 years longer than planned, with some remaining in production until well into the 2030s. Then, following Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the government changed its mind again, deciding to proceed with the plan to close all nuclear plants in the country by 2022.After becoming Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel expressed concern for overreliance on Russian energy, but the policy of energy imports did not change significantly afterwards.Government policy emphasises conservation and the development of renewable sources, such as solar, wind, biomass, water, and geothermal power. As a result of energy saving measures, energy efficiency (the amount of energy required to produce a unit of gross domestic product) has been improving since the beginning of the 1970s.

Sustainable energy

In September 2010, the German government announced a new aggressive energy policy with the following targets:

• Reducing {{CO2|link=yes}} emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050
• Increasing the relative share of renewable energy in gross energy consumption to 18% by 2020, 30% by 2030 and 60% by 2050
• Increasing the relative share of renewable energy in gross electrical consumption to 35% by 2020 and 80% by 2050
• Increasing the national energy efficiency by cutting electrical consumption 50% below 2008 levels by 2050

Forbes ranked German Aloys Wobben ($3B), founder of Enercon, as the richest person in the energy business (wind power) in Germany in 2013.

Taxes

2019 fossil fuel taxes">

Fossil fuel taxes {| class"wikitable"|+ 2019 fossil fuel taxes

! || Gas oil (>50 mg/kg sulfur) || Gas oil(≤50 mg/kg sulfur) || Heavy oil || Other oils || Natural Gas || Liquefied petroleum gas

			kg >		Kilowatt hour#Multiples>MWh	€/tonne

					| 60.60

Carbon tax

The German ecological tax reform was adopted in 1999. After that, the law was amended in 2000 and in 2003. The law grew taxes on fuel and fossil fuels and laid the foundation for the tax for energy. In December 2019, the German Government agreed on a carbon tax of 25 Euros per tonne of {{CO2}} on oil and gas companies. The law came into effect in January 2021. The tax will increase to 55 Euros per tonne by 2025.NEWS, Traufetter, Gerald, 16 December 2019, Bund und Länder einigen sich im Streit über Klimapaket, Der Spiegel,weblink live, 16 December 2019,weblink 16 December 2019, From 2026 onwards, the price will be decided at auction.NEWS, 31 December 2020, Germany rings in 2021 with CO2 tax, coal phase-out, en, France 24,weblink The price will increase to 55 euros by 2025, and will be decided at auction from 2026., (File:CO2 emissions Germany.svg|thumb|Development of carbon dioxide emissions)

See also

• Dunkelflaute
• Electricity sector in Germany
• Ende Gelände
• Energy transition in Germany, also known as the Energiewende
• German Renewable Energy Sources Act, also known as the Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz
• Renewable energy in Germany
• Economy of Germany

References

NEWS,weblink Reuters, Germany sets new solar power record, institute says, 26 May 2012, 10 July 2021, 29 October 2020,weblink live, WEB,weblink Renewable Energy Germany - German Energy Transition, Energy, Girl, Strom-report.de, 10 January 2020, 11 October 2022,weblink live, NEWS,weblink Strom-Report, Germany's Power Generation Mix 2016, 13 February 2017, 13 February 2017, 11 October 2022,weblink live, WEB, BMWi - Erneuerbare Energien - Zeitreihen Erneuerbare Energien, BMWi - Renewable Energy - Renewable Energy Time Series, de,weblink Erneuerbare Energien, 6 December 2016, Table 2, 28 October 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141028031258weblink">weblink live, WEB, Online biomass atlas, 17 October 2016, Clean Energy Wire (CLEW), Berlin, Germany,weblink 8 November 2016, 8 November 2016,weblink live, WEB, Bioenergiedaten: Potenziale, Bioenergy data: potentials, de, Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum (DBFZ), Leipzig, Germany,weblink 8 November 2016, 8 November 2016,weblink live, WEB,weblink Energy Efficiency Trends & Policies - ODYSSEE-MURE, Odyssee-indicators.org, 29 December 2017, 13 January 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140113010230weblink">weblink live, NEWS,weblink Germany split over green energy, 25 February 2005, 29 December 2017, BBC, 19 March 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110319122219weblink">weblink live, NEWS,weblink Energiewende: Bundestag besiegelt den Atomausstieg, 30 June 2011, Die Zeit, 29 December 2017, 30 December 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171230004840weblink">weblink live, Severin Fischer/Oliver Geden (2011), Europeanising the German energy transition {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230114449weblink |date=30 December 2017}}, SWP Comments 55German Energy Blog Government Adopts Energy Concept {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426225915weblink |date=26 April 2015}}NEWS,weblink BBC News, Germany: Nuclear power plants to close by 2022, 30 May 2011, 20 June 2018, 31 March 2020,weblink live, Dependence on Russian gas worries some – but not all – European countries {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108015002weblink |date=8 November 2011}} David Francis, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 March 2008weblink {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214094757weblink |date=14 December 2010}}WEB,weblink Aloys Wobben, Forbes, 29 December 2017, 16 April 2019,weblink live, NEWS,weblink Germany's 2019 hard coal imports seen rising after mining ends, Reuters, 18 January 2019, 18 January 2019, 18 January 2019,weblink live, WEB, Die Energieversorgung 2023 – Jahresbericht,weblink bdew.de, Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft, 11 January 2024, 18 December 2023, WEB, Energy consumption in Germany,weblink 2020, WEB,weblink Germany and the EU remain heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels, 14 March 2022, 24 April 2018, 2 October 2019,weblink live, WEB, New wind turbine installations in Germany grow almost 50% in early 2023,weblink 12 May 2023, }}

External links

{{Commons category|Energy in Germany}}

• Electricity/Heat in Germany in 2005 from the International Energy Agency
• Statistical Energy Yearbook, 2012 from Enerdata

{{Germany topics}}{{Energy in Europe}}