Berlin (AFP) – The share of renewables in German power production almost stagnated in 2025, data showed Monday, as concerns grow about a shift away from green policies under conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The figure had increased strongly in previous years as Europe’s biggest economy aims to reach a goal of green power accounting for 80 percent of its energy mix by 2030. But last year, power from sources such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric accounted for 58.8 percent of the mix, up just slightly from a figure of 58.5 percent in 2024, according to the energy regulator. The figure had been just 43 percent in 2021.
The share of wind power, which remained Germany’s biggest energy source, fell slightly while solar rose due to growth in production capacity, the regulator said. The group Environmental Action Germany noted that last year’s near stagnation in renewables’ share was in part due to a lack of wind in the first half of 2025. However, the NGO fears a looming slowdown in the green power shift under Merz’s coalition, which took power last year. Constantin Zerger, the group’s head of energy and climate protection, told AFP that Economy Minister Katherina Reiche “has announced several times that she wants to slow down the expansion of renewables, which is of course very, very dangerous.”
Critics point to measures ranging from a planned expansion of gas power to proposals to scrap some solar subsidies as evidence that Reiche is seeking to slow the green shift and prioritize helping big business. Merz has pushed back at criticism that he is undermining the climate change fight, stating that his government is taking a more pragmatic approach to the energy transition that aims to keep costs manageable.
In the previous government, the Greens party helmed the economy ministry and pushed ambitious measures to accelerate the transition—measures that were hailed by environmentalists but caused unease among businesses about extra burdens. Last year, the share of solar energy in Germany’s energy mix passed that of lignite, also known as brown coal, for the first time. However, the share of two other fossil fuels, coal and natural gas, rose.
© 2024 AFP
