Energy in Germany

Energy in Germany - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Germany
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Energy in Germany is sourced predominantly by

fossil fuels, followed by nuclear power, biomass
(wood and biofuels), wind, hydro and solar.
The German economy is large and developed, ranking
fourth in the world by GDP. Because of this,
Germany ranked sixth in global energy consumption
between 2004 and 2007.[4] Germany was Europe's
largest consumer of electricity in 2002; electricity
consumption that year totaled 512.9 terawatt-hours.
In 2013 Germany's electricity production reached
631.4 TWh.[5]
Key to Germany's energy policies and politics is
"Energiewende", meaning "energy turnaround" or
"energy transformation". Germany intends to
eliminate current use of nuclear power by 2022.
Some plants have already been closed ahead of their
intended retirement dates. It is presumed that fossil
fuels, wind power, solar power, biofuels, and energy
conservation will be enough to replace the existing
capacity from nuclear power. The policy includes
phasing out nuclear power, and progressive
replacement of fossil fuels by renewables.
Electricity in Germany
Data
Electricity coverage
n/a(total), n/a(rural);
Continuity of supply
0,2815 hrs (16,89 min)

interruption per subscriber
per year
Installed capacity
171.566[1] GW
Share of fossil energy

consumed
74.6% (2013) [2]
Share of renewable
energy consumed
25.4% (2013) [2]
GHG emissions from

electricity generation
(2013)
363.7 Mt CO2
[631.4 TWh * 576g/kWh]
Average electricity use

(2005)
n/a kWh per capita
Average industrial tariff

(US$/kWh, 2013)
medium: 20.60 [3]
1 Overview
2 Electricity production
2.1 Coal power
2.2 Nuclear power
2.3 Renewable energy
3 Energy consumption
3.1 Energy efficiency
4 Government energy policy
4.1 Sustainable energy
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
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Energy in Germany[6]
Capita
Million
Prim. energy Production Import Electricity CO2-emission

TWh
TWh
TWh
TWh
Mt
2004
82.5
4,048
1,582
2,509
580
849
2007
82.3
3,853
1,594
2,344
591
798
2008
82.1
3,899
1,560
2,453
587
804
2009
81.9
3,705
1,478
2,360
555
750
2010
81.8
3,807
1,528
2,362
590
762
2012
81.8
3,626
1,444
2,315
579
748
-0.9%
-5.9%
-3.4%
-5.9%
1.7%
-10.3%
Change 2004-2010
[7]
Mtoe = 11.63 TWh, Prim. energy includes energy losses that are 2/3 for nuclear power
Coal power
The main source of electricity is coal.[8] The recent plan to build 26 new
coal plants[9] is controversial in light of Germany's commitment to
curbing emissions.[10] 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.[11]
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.[11]
Electricity production in Germany,

including combined former East and
West from 1980 to 2011 from EIA
data.
In 2013 coal made up about 45% of Germany's electricity production

(19% from hard coal and 25% from lignite).[12] 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 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
Grafenrheinfeld Power Plant.
minimum load capability of approximately 40%, with further potential to
reduce this to 2025%. 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.[12]
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Nuclear power
Nuclear power in Germany accounted for 17.7% of national electricity supply in 2011, compared to 22.4% in
2010.[13][14] German nuclear power began with research reactors in the 1950s and 1960s with the first
commercial plant coming online in 1969. The anti-nuclear movement in Germany has a long history dating back
to the early 1970s, when large demonstrations prevented the construction of a nuclear plant at Wyhl. In 1986,
large parts of Germany were lightly covered with radioactive contamination from the Chernobyl disaster and
Germans went to great lengths to deal with the contamination.
Nuclear power has been a topical political issue in recent decades, with continuing debates about when the
technology should be phased out. 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.[15]
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.[16][17] Eight of the seventeen operating reactors in Germany were permanently
shut down following Fukushima.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said the phase-out of plants, previously scheduled to go offline as late as 2036, would
give Germany a competitive advantage in the renewable energy era, stating, "As the first big industrialized
nation, we can achieve such a transformation toward efficient and renewable energies, with all the opportunities
that brings for exports, developing new technologies and jobs". Merkel also pointed to Japan's "helplessness"
despite being an industrialized, technologically advanced nation in the face of its nuclear disaster.[18]
In September 2011, German engineering giant Siemens announced a complete withdrawal from the nuclear
industry, as a response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.[19][20] Remaining nuclear companies in Germany are
E.ON Kernkraft GmbH, Vattenfall Europe Nuclear Energy GmbH, RWE Power AG, and EnBW Energie BadenWuerttemberg AG.
Renewable energy
The share of electricity produced from renewable energy in Germany
has increased from 6.3 percent of the national total in 2000 to over 25
percent in the first half of 2012.[21] 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 2011, they
purchased 15 terawatt-hours (TWh) of green power, and commercial
customers bought a further 10.3 TWh.[22] Renewable energy share of
gross electricity consumption rose from 10% in 2005 to 20% in 2011.
Main renewable electricity sources were in first half of 2012: Wind
energy 36.6%, biomass 22.5%, hydropower 14.7%, photovoltaics (solar)
21.2% and biowaste 3.6%.[23] Wood-fire plants fuelled by wood pellets
are included in biomass. Half of Germany's timber production is
consumed by wood fired plants. Wood fired plants are counted as
renewable energy by Germany and the European Union counting them
as "carbon neutral".[24]
Photovoltaic array and wind turbines

at the Schneebergerhof wind farm in
the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz
In 2010, investments totaling 26 billion euros were made in Germanys renewable energies sector. According to
official figures, some 370,000 people in Germany were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2010,
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especially in small and medium-sized companies. This is an increase of

around 8 percent compared to 2009 (around 339,500 jobs), and well
over twice the number of jobs in 2004 (160,500). About two-thirds of
these jobs are attributed to the Renewable Energy Sources Act[25][26]
Germany has been called "the world's first major renewable energy
economy".[27] In the first half of 2012 25.1% of Germany's electricity
supply was produced from renewable energy sources, more than the
electricity generated by nuclear power stations.[21] One blogger predicts
that the high costs will lead to economic instability.[28]
Renewable electric power produced in

2011 by energy source
In end of 2011, the cumulative installed total of renewable power was

65.7GW.[29] Although Germany does not really have a very sunny
climate, solar photovoltaic power is used massively (4% of annual electricity needs). On 25 May 2012, a
Saturday, solar power reached a new record with feeding 22 GW, as much as can be produced by 20 nuclear
reactors, into the German power grid. This met 50% of the nation's mid-day electricity demand on that day.[30]
Source:[31]
Germany is one of the largest consumers of energy in the world.[32] In

2009, it consumed energy from the following sources:[33]
Oil 34.6%
Bituminous coal 11.1%
Lignite 11.4%
Natural gas 21.7%
Fossil fuel consumption in Germany,
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Nuclear power 11.0%

Hydro- and wind power 1.5%
Others
including combined former East and

West from 1980 to 2011 from EIA
data. Use of coal declined significantly
after reunification.
Renewable energy is more present in the domestically produced energy,

since Germany imports about two-thirds of its energy. This however is offset by exports of energy [34]
Germany is the fifth-largest consumer of oil in the world. Russia, Norway, and the United Kingdom are the
largest exporters of oil to Germany, in that order.[35] Germany is the third-largest consumer of natural gas in the
world.
Because of its rich coal deposits it has a long tradition of fuelling its economy with coal. It still is the fourthlargest consumer of coal in the world, even though domestic coal mining has been almost completely phased
out, because German coal is a lot more expensive to mine than coal in China or Australia. Germany has the
largest market of electricity in Europe.
Energy efficiency
The energy efficiency bottom-up index for the whole economy (ODEX) in Germany decreased by 18% between
19912006, 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.[36]
By 2050 Germany projects a 25% drop in electricity demand.
Germany is 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,[37] 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.[38] However, being an integral part of the EU's internal electricity market,
Germany will continue to consume foreign nuclear electricity even after 2022.[39] 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.[40] 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.[41]
Government policy emphasizes 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. The government has set the goal of meeting 80% of the country's energy demands from alternative
energy by 2050.
After becoming Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel expressed concern for overreliance on Russian energy,
but she received little support from others in Berlin.[42]
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Sustainable energy
In September 2010, the German government announced a new aggressive energy policy with the following
targets:[43]
Reducing CO2 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.[44]
Renewable energy in Germany

General:
Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Energy in
Germany.
Economy of Germany
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Energy in Germany - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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