Germany leading in climate tech as EU boosts green industry

Germany is leading among EU countries when it comes to the production of climate technologies like wind power, solar energy, heat pumps, batteries and electrolysers, Table.Media reports. Those are the conclusions drawn from Brussels-based think tank Bruegel’s newly launched European Clean Tech Tracker database, which examined the more than 400 clean tech manufacturing plants across Europe. Bruegel examined the number of facilities along supply chains for different clean technologies, including regional specialisations and the spread of technological focuses. Results showed that as a central hub for the sector, Germany as the biggest economy of the continent hosts the highest number of clean tech manufacturing facilities overall and in almost all technologies.

In the areas of solar technology and wind technology, Germany takes the lead, in the latter by a significant amount at 64 manufacturing facilities to second place Spain’s 38. While Italy leads in heat pump production with 27 facilities, Germany is closed behind at 24. In 2022, Germany likewise led in both installed capacity of wind and solar power plants. In terms of solar output, Germany was in second place in relation to the EU population and in fifth place in terms of wind output.

While noting that clean tech data in Europe remains significantly fragmented and difficult to access, Bruegel aims to deliver comprehensive insights into the evolving landscape of clean technologies across Europe with its regularly updated tracker. The launch of the tracker comes amid the EU’s ramped-up efforts to boost the bloc’s green tech industry. In February, the Council of the EU, and the European Parliament, reached a provisional deal on the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which aims to support technologies deemed necessary to make the EU climate-neutral by 2050, and better compete with U.S. and Chinese rivals in the sector.

Clean tech investments in Europe stagnated in 2023, while in the U.S. they increased by 40 percent compared to 2022, Handelsblatt reports. Overall, however, clean tech investments in Europe were still higher in 2023 at 360 billion euros compared to 220 billion euros (240 billion dollars) in the U.S.