© BMWK

Solar power and heat pumps drive growth in renewable energy

The share of renewable energy in Germany’s overall energy consumption for electricity, heating and transport continued to rise in 2024.

Renewable energy has now become Germany’s primary source of electricity, playing a crucial role in both climate action and energy security. In 2024, the share of renewables in total energy consumption (across electricity, heating and transport) increased to 22.4%, up from 21.6% in 2023.
This was highlighted in the background paper “Renewable energy in Germany 2024: Data on the development in 2024“ (in German only), published on 11 March 2025, which also included insights into the economic impact and the avoided emissions from renewable energy use.

^{Renewables once again meet well over half of domestic electricity demand}

The share of renewables in gross electricity consumption rose from 52.9 to 54.4 per cent in 2024. This increase was driven by the installation of new solar systems, with total renewable electricity generation reaching 284 terawatt-hours (TWh). Alongside solar panels, offshore wind farms and hydropower plants also produced more electricity than in the previous year.

^{Heat pump use for environmental and geothermal heat rises by 15%}

The proportion of renewable energy used for heating also saw a slight increase, reaching 18.1% of final energy consumption in 2024. With 197 TWh produced, renewable heat generation rose by almost 2% compared to 2023. The use of heat pumps grew by 15%, while the amount of heat generated from biomass remained stable.

^{Mixed results for renewable energy in transport}

The share of renewables in final energy consumption for transport dipped slightly to 7.2%. This decline was partly due to a drop in diesel fuel use driven by economic factors, which led to a decrease in biodiesel/HVO sales in the last quarter of 2024. While the growing number of electric vehicles couldn't entirely offset this decline, the relatively low energy demand of electric vehicles means that even a modest increase in electricity use for transport translates into significantly more ‘renewable kilometres travelled’.

^{Renewables account for 22.4% of gross final energy consumption}

Despite still having a high proportion of fossil heating fuels and fossil fuels in overall energy use, the share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption is increasing at a steady pace. The share (according to EU directives) rose from 21.6% in 2023 to around 22.4% in 2024.

^{256 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions avoided}

By using renewable energy, Germany is reducing its reliance on fossil fuels, which lowers greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants. In 2024, renewables helped avoid the emission of approximately 256 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents, around six million tonnes more than the previous year. CO₂ equivalents (CO₂ eq.) are a unit of measurement used to standardise the climate impact of different greenhouse gases: Greenhouse gases (in German only).

^{32 billion euros invested in renewable energy}

Investments in renewable energy reached 32 billion euros in 2024, according to AGEE-Stat, surpassing the values of previous years, although they did not quite match the record year of 2023.

The data presented is preliminary and will be updated throughout the year as further statistics become available from AGEE-Stat.