Germany has added more than 2.6GW of solar capacity in the first three months of the year, according to The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).
With nearly 3GW of solar PV added in Q1 2023, Germany has now passed 70GW of solar capacity installed as it aims to reach its target of 215GW installed by 2030. A target the current government increased by 15GW last year and which means the country would require to install an average of 22GW per year, which is still far away as last year it added 7.9GW of solar capacity, according to trade association SolarPower Europe.
Bavaria was the region which added the most solar capacity in Q1 2023 with almost 600MW, followed by North Rhine-Westphalia (398MW) and Baden-Wuerttemberg (381MW), as shown in the chart below.
In terms of total capacity installed as of the end of March 2023, Bavaria remains in the lead with over 19.2GW of solar PV, more than double than Baden-Wuerttemberg which has a total of 8.7GW of installed solar PV.
Solar’s continued growth in Germany is not the only positive sign for the country, as the government’s latest tender saw a 47% oversubscription for the 1.95GW of solar ground-mount capacity auctioned earlier in April. The next tender round for ground-mounted is scheduled for 1 July 2023.
At the beginning of the year, the Federal Network Agency increased the price cap for ground-mounted solar auctions in order to attract more interest in future auctions.
Moreover, the residential rooftop segment in Germany soared in 2022 with a 52% increase, due to the increased prices of energy last year and consumers’ desire for more predictable and stable prices.
