“The weather-related decline in renewable electricity generation demonstrates how important it is to diversify,” says UBA President Dirk Messner. “Only through a consistent and accelerated expansion of renewable energies across all sectors, combined with an efficient power grid and sufficient storage infrastructure, can a climate-friendly energy system be established.” The progress made so far in reducing emissions is primarily due to the ongoing expansion of renewable energies—and we must resolutely continue along this path.”
Electricity generation: Share of renewables stable despite lull
In the first half of 2025, approximately 142 terawatt hours ( TWh ) of electricity were generated from renewable sources—five percent less than in the seme period in the previous year (149 TWh). Wind conditions were unusually weak, particularly in the typically windy months of February to April. According to the German Weather Service ( DWD ), March 2025 was the least windy March since records began in 1950. At the same time, electricity production from hydropower also suffered due to very dry weather conditions.
While electricity generation from wind power fell by 18 percent and from hydropower by 29 percent, photovoltaics recorded an increase of 27 percent, thanks to favourable solar radiation levels and continued strong growth in installed capacity.
Despite the "lull", wind energy continued to account for the largest share of renewable electricity production at around 43 percent, followed by photovoltaics (34 percent), biomass (17 percent), and hydropower (6 percent).
According to current data, demand for electricity was roughly the same as in the first half of the previous year. Due to the weather-related reduction in renewable electricity generation, the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption slightly decreased in the first half of 2025, but still amounted to around 54 percent. A projection for the entire year 2025 is not possible at this time, as both weather-related influences and the development of electricity consumption over the course of the year are subject to significant uncertainty. For the full year 2024, the figure was 54.4 percent.
The expansion of renewable electricity generation capacity in the first half of 2025 was again dominated by the expansion of photovoltaics. The increase in the first two quarters amounted to a total of 7 gigawatts (GW), while net increase in onshore wind turbines reached 1.9 GW, which is twice as high as in the same period of the previous year. So far in 2025, no new offshore wind turbines have been connected to the grid.
With a currently installed capacity of over 107 GW, the photovoltaic expansion target of 128 GW set in the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) by the end of 2026 is within reach. Around 65.4 GW of onshore wind energy is currently installed. To achieve the EEG target of 84 GW by 2026, a significantly higher expansion dynamic is required. A positive signal here is the rapidly increasing number of wind turbines that have already been approved and are currently under construction. Increase in renewable heat generation
Total heat generation from renewable sources amounted to approximately 117 TWh in the first half of 2025. Compared to the first half of 2024, the heat provided from renewable sources thus increased by a total of ten percent. The main reason for this was primarily significantly cooler weather , which also increased overall heat demand.
The increase was driven by greater use of wood in households and in the trade/commerce/services sector, as well as particularly high growth in the use of heat pumps: Compared to the same period of the previous year, around 17 percent more heat was generated from shallow geothermal energy and ambient heat through the use of heat pumps. According to the latest industry reports, the sales of heat pumps also increased in 2025.
Slight increase in the transport sector
In the first half of the year, approximately 23 TWh from renewable sources were used in the transport sector. This represents an increase of 6 percent compared to the first half of 2024. The total amount of liquid and gaseous biofuels used rose by 6 percent. The use of renewable electricity in the transport sector also increased by 8 percent, although somewhat less strongly than in the recent past. While the number of electric vehicles (and thus the electricity demand in transport) continues to grow steadily, less green electricity was available than in the previous year due to unfavourable weather conditions. The
amount of renewable electricity used in transport now corresponds to around 3.7 percent of the renewable electricity generated in Germany in the first half of the year. Of this, about 60 percent is still used in rail transport and now around 40 percent in road transport.
Further information:
The Working Group on Renewable Energy Statistics (AGEE-Stat) analyses the use of renewable energies on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) and continuously prepares reports on the development of renewable energies based on currently available data. In addition to annual publications, AGEE-Stat also regularly publishes monthly and quarterly reports. The current quarterly report provides additional graphics on the latest developments in renewable energies in 2025. The AGEE-Stat office is located at the UBA.
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