Germany adds 20 GW of new solar, wind in 2024; wind permits hit fresh record

Germany added almost 20 GW of new wind and solar power generation capacity, with total installed renewables capacity pegged at around 190 GW, regulator BNetzA said late Jan. 8.

Solar continued to lead the expansion with around 16.2 GW added in 2024, followed by 3.2 GW wind, BNetzA said based on preliminary data from its renewable asset registration scheme, including estimates for December.

Energy minister Robert Habeck said in a statement that "renewable energies are now taking over the main role in electricity generation in Germany ... with almost 60%, or 254.9 TWh, coming from renewable energy sources [in 2024]."

"We have consistently simplified and accelerated the approval procedures over the last two years. The expansion and approval dynamics are finally benefiting from this," Habeck said in the BNetzA statement.

BNetzA president Klaus Mueller added that record numbers of onshore wind permits issued in 2024 "will pay off in increased new installations in the coming years."

According to BNetzA data, onshore wind permits rose around 90% year over year to almost 15 GW in 2024.

Wind growth came to a virtual standstill around 2019 amid a lack of permitted projects and a pause in offshore wind construction, with 2024 growth still below 2018 additions.

Net onshore wind additions of 2.5 GW were just below 2023 due to higher retirements of around 700 MW, BNetzA said. Offshore additions, meanwhile, doubled year over year to around 700 MW in 2024. In total, Germany has almost 73 GW of installed wind capacity.

Elsewhere, biomass saw only 110 MW added, little changed from 2023 with the total still around 9 GW.

More detailed data, including full December registrations, will follow mid-January, BNetzA said.

The statement also noted growth in battery storage capacity, often in combination with solar assets, but did not provide overall figures.

Think-tank Fraunhofer-ISE said that based on BNetzA registration data, around 3.5 GW of new battery capacity was installed in 2024, lifting the total to 12.1 GW.

Battery storage capacity increased to 17.7 GWh from 12.7 GWh, mainly led by residential home storage, it said.