In 2016, the share of electricity generated from renewables rose to 31.7% of gross electricity consumption in Germany (2015: 31.5%). The volume of power generated from solar and wind energy, hydropower and biomass reached a new record of approximately 188 billion kilowatt hours and was thus only slightly above the level of the previous year (around 187 billion kWh). This was partly due to a weather-related drop in electricity generation from renewables, even though new renewable energy installations continued to be built: 2016 was considerably less windy than the previous year and the number of hours of sunshine was also lower than in 2015.

Overall, however, renewable energies were able to maintain their leading position in the electricity mix. Wind energy is by far the most important renewable source of electricity within renewable energies in the electricity sector.

Further data on renewables: heat, transport, greenhouse gas emissions

In 2016, the amount of heat generated by renewable sources amounted to around 162 billion kWh (2015: 155 billion kWh). In view of the colder weather compared with the preceding year, the use of renewable energy to generate heat increased in 2016. As the total final energy consumption for heat also increased, the share of renewable energies remained largely stable in 2016 at 13% year-on-year.

In 2016, sales of biofuels remained at roughly the same level as the preceding year. Due to the overall rise in fuel consumption, the proportion of renewable energy in the transport sector dropped slightly to 5.2% (2015: 5.3%).

According to calculations by the Federal Environment Agency, the use of renewables in Germany reduced greenhouse gas emissions by approx. 160 million tonnes in 2016. Of this amount, the electricity sector saved around 119 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents and the heating sector around 35 million tonnes. Around 6.3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents were avoided by using biofuels.

In 2016, around €15.1 billion was invested in the construction of installations for the use of renewable energies. The economic impetus from the operation of renewable energy installations rose from €14.9 billion in 2015 to around €15.6 billion and thus considerably exceeded investments made in the previous year.

Information events focusing on renewable energies

Detailed information from the Working Group on Renewable Energy Statistics (AGEE-Stat) on the development of renewable energy in Germany for the current year can be downloaded from the website of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) with the "Monthly Report on the Development of Renewable Power Generation and Output in Germany" and the quarterly report with current figures for the electricity, heat and transport sectors, which is published four times a year.

Further information about renewables, such as timelines detailing the development of renewables from 1990 onwards and a large number of diagrams, can be found (in German) on the renewable energy website of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.