The Bundesnetzagentur has released its preliminary figures on growth in renewable capacity in Germany for the first half of 2024. From January to June, renewable energy installations with a total capacity of 9.3 GW were put into operation.
Taking into account the closure of older installations totalling 0.4 GW in the same period, the total capacity increased by 5.3% compared with the end of 2023. Solar and wind remained the main components of the increase.
There was also positive development with regard to permits for new onshore wind turbines, with permits for nearly 5.6 GW of capacity being issued in the first half of 2024 alone. This represents an increase of around 70% compared with the same period of the preceding year.
Growth in wind energy in the first half of 2024 brought a boost to offshore wind power installations. New offshore wind capacity totalling 377 MW went into operation in the Baltic and North Seas. Onshore wind has yet to see such a boost. The current growth rate for 2024 (up 1.5% compared with the end of 2023) is relatively small and is in part the result of a strikingly large number of permanent closures of older installations in the second quarter of 2024. For the 130 newly commissioned installations with a total capacity of 600 MW, there were 173 installation closures with a total capacity of 230 MW. New installations thus had an average of three to four times more capacity than those that were taken out of operation. Overall onshore wind capacity is currently just under 62 GW.
