Public optimism towards Germany’s energy transition grows after energy crisis – survey

Optimism that Germany can achieve its national energy transition targets is moderately growing in Germany, a survey by consultancy EY has found. The share of respondents saying that the country will be able to source at least 80 percent of its electricity demand from renewables by 2030 had grown to 31 percent by July 2024, after it stood at 23 percent in November 2023. In March 2023, the share was already 29 percent, news agency dpa reported in an article published in the Zeitung für kommunale Wirtschaft (ZfK).

Germany covered about 57 percent of its electricity consumption with renewables in the first six months of 2024. Consultancy EY said that while the figures represented a turnaround, skepticism regarding the energy transition targets remained high, as 69 percent still doubted that these will be met. However, optimism was growing also with respect to the government’s broader energy transition policies, as the share of respondents generally viewing it favourably grew from 38 to 46 percent since March, EY added.

Andreas Siebel, head of energy and raw materials at EY, said the fact that more than half of respondents still believe the government currently has no viable solutions for the transformation of the energy system could partly be blamed on negative experiences gathered during the energy crisis. “Many people only realised how high our dependence on energy imports still is and how vulnerable the German economy is when they were hit by the energy price shocks of 2022 and 2023,” Siebel argued. “At the same time, the energy transition is not progressing at the desired pace.” Supply security continued to be the main concern for survey respondents, followed environmental and climate protection, and low prices.