Coal-based power to offset Germany's renewables growth

Even though Germany is expected to boost the share of renewables in the energy mix by 2025, the construction of coal-based power plants will undermine the country’s attempts to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a new report shows.

The installed renewable energy capacity of Germany is projected to rise to 147.4 GW by 2025 from 86.2 GW in 2014, research and consulting firm GlobalData says in its latest report -- Germany Power Market Outlook to 2025, Update 2015. As a result, the renewables share of total installed capacity will climb to 59.7% in 2025 from 44.7% at the end of last year. Geothermal and offshore wind power alone are seen to grow at Compound Annual Growth Rates (CAGR) of 13% and 15%, respectively, between 2014 and 2025.

However, the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind parks will force the government to add over 3 GW of coal-based capacity by 2020 in an attempt to replace nuclear power, which will be phased out by 2022. This, in turn, will lead to a rise in emissions, says Chiradeep Chatterjee, GlobalData’s senior analyst for power.

The German government has set a goal to cut its CO2 emissions to 40% of 1990 levels by 2020.

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