Northern and southern German state each take lead in national renewables ranking

The two entirely different German federal states of Schleswig-Holstein and Baden-Wuerttemberg both lead a national ranking of renewable energy performance compiled by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW) and commissioned by the renewable industry platform Renewable Energies Agency (AEE). The rather rural northern coastal state of Schleswig-Holstein scored well in the ranking that compared over 60 indicators due to its high share and integration of wind power and its long-term energy policy planning, AEE head Robert Brandt said. Landlocked and highly industrialised Baden-Wuerttemberg, on the other hand, ranked first thanks to its "exemplary" energy programme, high ambitions and its use of renewables in heat generation.

Germany’s 16 federal states may have a common goal – to cut emissions and fight climate change – but there are many different opinions about how to achieve it and how exactly the Energiewende should progress. Lower Saxony, another northern state, scored high thanks to its efforts in renewable energy research and structural economic change, while south-eastern Bavaria performed best on solar and biomass use but was downgraded for its "strong neglect" of wind power. However, despite noteworthy efforts in every one of Germany's 16 federal states in individual categories, all of them still have to do more to embrace the energy transition's potential, especially with respect to heating, AEE said.