The German federal government has passed what it describes as the largest energy policy shift in decades - a legislative package designed to accelerate the expansion of green electricity, with the aim of sourcing 80 percent of German electricity from renewable sources by 2030. 

80 percent of German electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030

The so-called “Easter package”, due to come into force on July 1, “will comprehensively accelerate the expansion of renewable energies, on water, on land, and on roofs,” Reuters and dpa quoted the government’s report as saying. 

The proposal drafted by Economics Minister Robert Habeck provides amendments to the Renewable Energy Sources Act and the Offshore Wind Energy Act, with policies including measures to speed up planning and approval for areas earmarked for wind turbines, intensively develop off-shore wind farms, and increase the remuneration offered for solar panel installations.  

The plan would see Germany almost double the share of electricity that it gets from renewable sources, from 42 percent in 2021 to 80 percent by 2030. By 2035, 100 percent of German electricity should be sourced from green energy. 

War in Ukraine hastens Germany’s move away from fossil fuels

Germany’s plans to expand renewable energy have been given extra impetus by the war in Ukraine and the extra attention the conflict cast on the federal republic’s uncomfortable reliance on Russia for imports of gas, oil and coal. Christian Lindner, the head of the FDP, has therefore described the expansion of self-sustaining renewable energies as a move to “freedom energies”.

While the German government previously set itself the target of becoming climate neutral by 2045, greenhouse gas emissions actually increased significantly in 2021, demonstrating that the country still has a long way to go.