Germany ends 2022 with 66.5 GW of solar, 58.2 GW of onshore wind

February 7 (Renewables Now) - Germany added 7.18 GW of solar, 2.14 GW of onshore wind and 342 MW of offshore wind capacity to the grid in 2022 with net new installations growing more strongly than in 2021 but still far below the rate required to reach the 2030 renewable energy targets.

At the end of 2022, Germany had 66.49 GW of solar capacity in operation, according to data published by the Federal Network Agency. To reach its 215 GW goal in 2030, the country needs to install 1.54 GW per month on average.

More than half of the new capacity, or 4.4 GW, came from rooftop installations while subsidy-free ground-mounted solar parks accounted for 746.7 MW of the total.

Bavaria was once again a leader in fresh solar installations, adding 2.09 GW throughout 2022 to reach a total of 18.3 GW at the end of the year. With 899.2 MW net, North Rhine-Westphalia ranked second as per new grid connections, followed by Brandenburg with 794.1 MW.

In terms of onshore wind, Germany had 58.2 GW in operation at the end of the year with December witnessing the highest rate of monthly additions throughout the year with 309 MW. Despite the acceleration towards the end of 2022, the expansion rate must rise to 591 MW per month on average so that the country has 115 GW of onshore wind turbines in operation by the end of this decade.

When it comes to offshore wind, as many as 38 wind turbines at sea totalling 342 MW were connected to the German grid last year as part of the Kaskasi project located north of the Heligoland island, bringing the country's wind capacity in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to a total of 8.12 GW.

The table below provides details about the net new installations in Germany in 2022 (capacity in MW)

2022	Solar	Onshore wind	Offshore wind
January	507.5	84.5	-
February	697.6	141.3	-
March	838.9	113.4	-
April	484.4	100.3	-
May	638.1	198.7	-
June	550.5	220.2	-
July	478.4	179.0	9
August	669.0	146.5	162
September	785.1	243.3	9
October	578.4	152.7	45
November	602.7	251.0	72
December	350.4	309.2	45
Total	7,181	2,140	342