The () is the ongoing transition by Germany to a low carbon, environmentally sound, reliable, and affordable energy supply. The new system intends to rely heavily on renewable energy (particularly wind, photovoltaics, and hydroelectricity), energy efficiency, and energy demand management.
Legislative support for the Energiewende was passed in late 2010 and included greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions of 80–95% by 2050 (relative to 1990) and a renewable energy target of 60% by 2050. Germany had already made significant progress on its GHG emissions reduction target before the introduction of the program, achieving a 27% decrease between 1990 and 2014. However, the country would need to maintain an average GHG emissions abatement rate of 3.5% per year to reach its Energiewende goal, equal to the maximum historical value thus far. Germany's overall energy mix still has a high intensity due to large share of coal and fossil gas.
As part of the Energiewende, Germany phased out nuclear power in 2023, and plans to retire all existing coal power plants by 2038. The early retirement of the country's nuclear reactors was particularly controversial.
Etymology
The term Energiewende is regularly used in English language publications without being translated (a loanword).
The term Energiewende was first contained in the title of a 1980 publication by the German Öko-Institut, calling for the complete abandonment of nuclear and petroleum energy. The most groundbreaking claim was that economic growth was possible without increased energy consumption. On 16February 1980, the German Federal Ministry of the Environment also hosted a symposium in Berlin, called Energiewende – Atomausstieg und Klimaschutz (Energy Transition: Nuclear Phase-Out and Climate Protection). The Öko-Institut was funded by both environmental and religious organizations, and the importance of religious and conservative figures like and Peter Ahmels was crucial. In the following decades, the term Energiewende expanded in scope – in the present form it dates back to at least 2002.
Energiewende designated a significant change in energy policy. The term encompassed a reorientation of policy from demand to supply and a shift from centralized to distributed generation (for example, producing heat and power in small co-generation units), which should replace overproduction and avoidable energy consumption with energy-saving measures and increased efficiency.
In a broader sense, this transition also entailed a democratization of energy. In the traditional energy industry, a few large companies with large centralized power stations were perceived as dominating the market as an oligopoly and consequently amassing a worrisome level of both economic and political power. Renewable energies, in contrast, can, in theory, be established in a decentralized manner. Public wind farms and solar parks can involve many citizens directly in energy production. Photovoltaic systems can even be set up by individuals. Municipal utilities can also benefit citizens financially, while the conventional energy industry profits from a relatively small number of shareholders. Also significant, is the decentralized structure of renewable energies enables the creation of value locally and minimizes capital outflows from a region. Renewable energy sources, therefore, play an increasingly important role in municipal energy policy, and local governments often promote them.
Status
The key policy document outlining the Energiewende was published by the German government in September 2010, some six months before the Fukushima nuclear accident. Legislative support was passed in September 2010. On 6 June 2011, following Fukushima, the government removed the use of nuclear power as a bridging technology as part of their policy. The program was later described as "Germany's vendetta against nuclear" and attributed to the growing influence of ideologically anti-nuclear green movements in mainstream politics. In 2014, then-Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Sigmar Gabriel lobbied Swedish company Vattenfall to continue investments in brown coal mines in Germany, explaining that "we cannot simultaneously quit nuclear energy and coal-based power generation". A similar statement by Gabriel was recalled by James Hansen in his 2009 book "Storms of my grandchildren" — Gabriel argued that "coal use was essential because Germany was going to phase out nuclear power. Period. It was a political decision, and it was non-negotiable".
In 2011, the Ethical Committee on Secure Energy Supply was tasked with assessing the feasibility of the nuclear phase-out and transition to renewable energy, and it concluded: