Solar power revolution: Germany could supply all of Austria!

Solar power revolution: Germany could supply all of Austria!

Renewable energies, especially photovoltaics, have made significant progress in Germany and Austria in recent years. Germany has now exceeded the threshold of 100 GWP installed photovoltaics (PV) performance, with around 4.75 million PV systems that create a considerable amount of electricity of 72.6 TWH. This electricity production covers about 14% of total gross current consumption in Germany, the proportion of all renewable energies now 53%, as [Oekonews] (https://www2.oekonews.at/solarstrom-in-Deutschland-deckt-zu-ganz-oesterreich-ab+2400+1227073) reports.

In comparison, Austria showed electricity consumption of around 64.5 TWh in 2024, and constantly increasing trends in the use of renewable energies. In order to cover the total electricity requirement of 74.7 TWh in Austria, an increased use of storage systems for solar power from Germany is necessary, although the solar power produced in Germany would theoretically be sufficient. The installed PV performance in Austria was 8.3 GWP in the same year, which is supported by around 470,000 PV systems with a power generation of 8.3 TWH, which corresponds to 11% of gross electricity consumption in Austria

record values ​​of solar power generation

The development of photovoltaics in Germany was particularly dynamic in 2024. In July of this year, a record was achieved in the feed -in of solar power: around 10.3 TWh were fed into the network, which made a share of 28.3% in net electricity generation. Overall, the proportion of renewable energies in the power supply in July 2024 was 64.6% and shows the growing role that they play in German energy supply, explains Strom-Report.

The electricity-generating possibilities of photovoltaics have improved drastically compared to previous years, with almost 49.7 million tons saved CO2 emissions through electricity production in 2024. This year, an additional 1 million new solar systems were installed, which contribute a peak output of 15.9 GWP.

The contribution of renewable energies on the climate protection balance sheet

according to Federal Environment Agency, the renewable energies in gross final energy consumption already contributed 22.4%, which means an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous year. The goal for 2030 stipulates that 41% of gross energy consumption should be covered from renewable sources. In 2024, over 517 billion kWh from renewable sources were provided, with electricity production 55%.

The dominant renewable energy sources in Germany are biomass with 47%, followed by wind energy with 27% and solar energy that is 16%. The developments in photovoltaics also hide behind an increase in the installed performance to 99.8 GW.

These developments clearly show the potential of photovoltaics and the crucial role that renewable energies can play for future energy supply and climate protection. The trend suggests that both Germany and Austria are on the right track to reach their climate goals.