Striking Growth For Solar In Germany

• German solar installations in the month of May 2023 were a total of 1.05 GW, according to Bundesnetzagentur
• It contributes to total capacity addition of 4.97 GW between the initial 5 months of 2023, with Bavaria adding 1.32 GW alone
• The numbers include more than 1 GW installed for 3 consecutive months, from March to May

Looks like Germany is about to exceed its official solar installation target of 9 GW in 2023. The federal network regulator Bundesnetzagentur says it deployed almost 5 GW (4.97 GW specifically) during the first 5 months of 2023, of which more than 1 GW was installed in each of last 3 months of March, April and May alone.

Previously, the Federal Network Agency had pegged installations for March 2023 as 1.067 GW and for April 2023 as 881 MW. Now, it has revised upwards the monthly additions for these months to 1.118 GW and 1.007 GW, respectively (see Germany Installed 881 MW Solar In April 2023). Additionally, it says 1.05 GW was added in the month of May this year

Even as it is not yet close to 1.566 GW it needs to install in average on a monthly basis to achieve overarching ambition of 215 GW by 2030, things are looking up for the installations to reach that scale soon.

It just needs to add another 4 GW to touch its 9 GW target this year, but if installed capacity from the first 5 months is extrapolated it would be rather 11.9 GW for 2023 as a whole.

Maximum capacity during 5M/2023 came up in Bavaria region with 1.32 GW, followed by 749 MW in North Rhine-Westphalia, and 661.5 MW in Baden-Württemberg. Cumulative PV capacity of Germany at the end of May 2023 increased to 72.52 GW.

In comparison, during the initial 5 months of 2023 onshore wind brought online 1.016 GW, offshore wind 228.6 MW and biomass 19.2 MW, according to the agency.

For the coming year 2024, Germany's revised EEG 2023 stipulates annual addition of 13 GW new PV, followed by 18 GW in 2025 and 22 GW from 2026 per year (see Revised Photovoltaic Strategy).