Germany Energy Dashboard

Grid Summary

Renewable energy accounted for 5.8 percent of primary energy consumption in Germany in 2006 and the share of renewable energy in total gross electricity consumption rose to 12 percent. In relation to total road traffic, the contribution of biofuels to fuel supply reached 6.6 percent and, in the heat market, renewables' share in total heat provision was 6 percent. Its proportion in the total final energy consumption rose to 8 percent. A turnover of 11.3 billion euros arose from the erection of plants and 10.3 billion euros from the operation of the plants. Some 214,000 people are now employed in the renewable energy sector and may have managed to prevent some 101 million tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere in 2006.Many innovative German companies have advanced to become international technological leaders, providing key components for the wind energy, hydropower, solar energy, geothermic and biomass sectors. "Renewables made in Germany" are considered amongst the world leaders and are therefore being used all over the world. The Federal Ministry of Economics is supporting this dynamic industry with a multitude of instruments and wishes to use these pages to provide information on innovative technologies and successful "made in Germany" projects, as well as events and ways in which companies can participate in the foreign trade fairs of the Renewable Energy Export Initiative…more information.

The transport of the electrical energy is the task of the transmission grids: They ensure there is a stable supply system and that electricity is always exactly available in sufficient quantities –everywhere in Germany 24 hours a day. The structure of the electricity grid is comparable with that of the road network. In order to reach a smaller locality, you first drive as long as possible on a highway and the rest of your journey on country roads. With electricity, the high voltage grid is responsible for the transport of energy over long distances; the distribution grids transport the electricity regionally.When it comes to security of supply, Germany is at the forefront in Europe. An elaborate grid system ensures that energy always arrives exactly where it is just then required. Germany is Europe's largest energy market. At a total length of approx. 1.7 million kilometres, not only does Germany have the most extensive electricity grid in Europe, but also the most reliable one. Hence the length of any electricity outage resulting from breakdowns is clearly shorter in Germany than in other European countries.All of the grids on the European continent are connected together in the so-called integrated grid. The integrated grid increases the profitability of all power plants connected to it and further improves the security of supply. In the event that a major power plant breaks down, all of the transport grids together immediately balance out the supply gap that occurs, and that without any noticeable impacts for the consumers...more information.