Germany’s wind and solar 2030 targets almost compatible with 1.5°C limit – report
Clean Energy Wire
Germany’s current expansion targets for wind and solar electricity by 2030 are nearly in line with what is needed to help the world limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, said the NewClimate Institute in a report. Germany would need to deploy around 400 GW of wind and solar by 2030, while the relative share of each technology will depend on how various factors develop in the future, said the institute (current 2030 targets: 215 GW solar PV, 115 GW onshore wind, 30 GW offshore wind).
The institute produced wind and solar benchmarks for 11 key countries – responsible for over 70 percent of global wind and solar deployment – which would be in line with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. “As wind and solar will be the backbone of the energy transition, setting specific targets for them could become the defining policy action in global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C,” said the NewClimate Institute.
To align with 1.5°C, fossil fuels must exit the German power sector during the 2030s, with substantial reduction already before that, said the institute. The country plans to exit coal by 2038 at the latest, but there is no phase-out date for fossil gas. Only about 1 percent of power production came from oil in 2023. Wind and solar power are set to become the country’s key energy sources in the future.
At the UN climate change conference COP28 in Dubai last year, countries committed to tripling global renewables capacity by 2030, recognising the need for deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5 °C pathways.
