Germany: 10,000 MW of new wind and solar capacity connected to the grid in seven months
In Germany, the market for wind and solar plants is growing at a high pace in the current year. From January to July 2023 alone, wind and solar plants with a combined capacity of just over 10,000 MW
(10,006 MW) went into operation (Jan - July 2022: 5,426 MW). This is an increase of 84.4 percent compared to the same period last year.
After just seven months, the new installations almost match the expansion level of the entire previous year (total year 2022: 10,213 MW of wind and solar capacity). This is the result of an initial analysis of data from the Market Master Data Register (MaStR) maintained at the Bundesnetzagentur
(BNetzA) by Internationales Wirtschaftsforum Regenerative Energien (IWR) in Münster (data status: August 15, 2023).
The largest growth driver in Germany currently continues to be solar energy.
In the first seven months of 2023, approximately 593,000 new solar installations with 7,927 MW have already been connected to the grid and have been producing electricity since then (Jan - July 2022: 198,200 installations with 4,239 MW). Overall, the number of electricity-producing solar systems in Germany climbs to around 3.3 million, with installed solar capacity currently reaching just under 75,500 MW.
"The high solar growth vividly shows that the energy transition in Germany has reached the people and has become a participatory project," said IWR Director Dr. Norbert Allnoch in Münster, referring to the figures. The new Solarparket I of the Federal Government with its many facilitations will further accelerate this trend, Allnoch added.
The German state ranking "solar energy additions 2023" leads (as of July 2023) Bavaria in first place with around 1,980 MW of new PV capacity, ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia (1,340 MW), Baden-Württemberg (1,060 MW), Lower Saxony (740 MW) and Brandenburg (610 MW).
The German wind energy market can continue to catch up compared to the same period last year due to larger and more powerful turbines. In the first seven months of 2023, around 420 new wind turbines with a capacity of 2,080 MW went into operation (Jan - July 2022: 1,187 MW). This is a remarkable 75.2 percent increase in wind capacity compared to the same period last year. Of the total capacity, 1,850 MW is accounted for by onshore wind energy (Jan - July 2022: 1,178 MW) and around 230 MW by offshore wind energy (Jan - July 2022: 9 MW).
The ranking of the German states "wind energy additions onshore 2023" (as of July 2023) continues to be led by Schleswig-Holstein with approximately 725 MW of new wind power capacity in first place, ahead of Lower Saxony (308 MW), North Rhine-Westphalia (232 MW) and Brandenburg (176 MW).
For 2023 as a whole, the IWR forecast remains unchanged, according to which new wind and solar capacity connected to the grid in Germany could reach over
15,000 MW (15 GW). According to this forecast, additional electricity generation from wind and solar additions alone in 2023 will amount to approximately 20 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually.
