Germany's solar capacity grows by 1 GW in June

Solar park Emmingen-Liptingen in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. Copyright: Paul Gaertner on behalf of EnBW

Germany maintained its momentum in solar expansion in June, with the addition of 1.046 GW of new solar capacity to the grid.

For the fourth consecutive month, new solar installations have surpassed the 1 GW mark, resulting in a total operational solar capacity of 73.8 GW in the country, shows data from the Federal Network Agency.

Nearly 70% of the capacity installed in June, or 735 MW, came from subsidised rooftop solar systems. Ground-mounted PV plants with state subsidies added 181 MW while subsidy-free solar installations accounted for 127 MW of the total fresh capacity.

A positive trend is observed also in the deployment of onshore wind energy as more than 327 MW of new turbines went online across the country in June. This was the highest level so far this year.

The trend is further supported by an increase in the number of issued permits. In June alone, the green light was given to onshore wind projects with a combined capacity of 1.058 GW. In the first half, a total of 3.43 GW of new projects received permits which is equal to more than three-quarters of the new capacity approved in the entire year of 2022.

Despite the positive development, German industry associations BWE and VDMA warned that at the current pace, the target of reaching 115 GW of onshore wind energy by 2030 will be missed and a further acceleration is needed.

The table below provides details about the installation of solar and wind energy in Germany in the first half of 2023.

Net new capacity in MW	Solar PV	Onshore wind	Offshore wind
January	967	61.4	38.1
February	866	147	38.1
March	1,167	269.2	66.7
April	1,061	246.9	66.7
May	1,151	278.3	19.1
June	1,046	327.5	-
Total	6,261	1,330	228.7