Germany set to miss 2030 energy efficiency targets – report
Clean Energy Wire / Tagesspiegel Background
Germany is set to miss its 2030 energy efficiency target if it relies only on its existing policy measures, a report commissioned by industry energy efficiency alliance DENEFF found. Conducted by consultancy Prognos, the report found that Germany would achieve just over half of what is needed to reach the target for final energy consumption by the end of the decade (2030 target: -26.5 percent by 2030, compared to 2008). Relying on the existing policy measures, final energy consumption would be reduced by 375 TWh compared to 2008, meaning that additional saving of almost 300 TWh would be required to achieve the target, according to the report. "If we don't succeed in finally gaining momentum for energy efficiency in buildings, the public sector and companies, the energy transition will become considerably more difficult and expensive," DENEFF head Christian Noll said.
The association called for making the implementation of energy efficiency measures mandatory: So far, companies with high energy consumption have had to carry out an energy audit, but the measures proposed in the audit do not need to be implemented, Tagesspiegel Background reported. Additionally, DENEFF called on the government to extend EU minimum energy standards for non-residential buildings to the least energy efficient residential buildings. The lobby group also recommended further increasing the national carbon price more than projected, arguing that higher prices for fossil fuels in transport and buildings would create monetary incentives for efficiency measures.
Germany is closer to meeting its energy efficiency target for primary energy consumption, the report found. Over 90 percent of the target of reducing primary energy consumption to 2,252 TWh is set to be achieved by 2030, largely thanks to saving through the expansion of wind and photovoltaic systems, report’s author, Friedrich Seefeldt, said. Germany adopted its energy efficiency law in 2023, setting targets for 2030 and 2045 for primary and final energy consumption. These correspond with the requirements of the amendment of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive.
