Germany made significant progress in its transition to renewable energy sources, with renewables accounting for 55% of the country's power grids in 2023, showing an increase of 6.6 percentage points from the previous year, said the sector's regulator.

This brings Europe's largest economy closer to its target of having 80% of green power in its energy mix by 2030, Reuters reported. Germany's shift away from nuclear power and its plan to phase out most coal generation, relying on remaining gas plants primarily for grid support, are driving these efforts.

As Germany is transitioning to more decentralized low-carbon production units, the power grids, which are funded by consumers and overseen by the regulator, play a vital role in facilitating this shift from fossil fuel-based generation.

Among renewable sources, offshore wind contributed to the largest share at 31.1%, followed by solar at 12.1% and biomass at 8.4%, while the remaining 3.4% came from hydropower and other renewables, the regulator said in a statement.

The renewables capacity growth and favorable weather conditions bolstered this increase.

The mark-breaking renewable energy share of over 50% indicated the positive impact of simplified planning and approvals processes, according to Economy Minister Robert Habeck.

The total load on public power networks decreased 5.3% year on year to 456.8 TWh last year, caused by lower demand and the prioritization of green power over fossil fuel-based generation.

Germany has been facing economic challenges due to a contraction in activity following Russia-Ukraine conflict, which led to a slump in Russian energy exports and subsequent price rises in 2022. In 2023, however, the benchmark day-ahead power price dropped 60% to €95.18/MWh, retreating to levels seen in 2021.

(Writing by Riley Liang  Editing by Emma Yang)
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