Electricity sector in Germany

In 2008, power from coal supplied 291 TWh or 46% of Germany's overall production of 631 TWh, but this dropped to 204 TWh (38%) in 2018 and 151 TWh (29%) in 2019.[4] In 2010 Germany was still one of the world's largest consumers of coal at 4th place behind China (2,733 TWh), USA (2,133 TWh) and India (569 TWh).[14] By 2019 it had fallen to 8th, behind smaller countries such as South Korea and South Africa.[15]

In January 2019 the German Commission on Growth, Structural Change and Employment initiates Germany's plans to entirely phase out and shut down the 84 remaining coal-fired plants on its territory by 2038.[6]

Germany has defined a firm active phase-out policy of nuclear power. Eight nuclear power plants were permanently shut down after the Fukushima accident. All nuclear power plants are to be phased out by the end of 2022. According to BMU this is an opportunity for future generations.[16]

Siemens is the only significant nuclear constructor in Germany and the nuclear share was 3% of their business in 2000.[17] In 2006 large international bribes by Siemens in the energy and telecommunication business were revealed. The case was investigated, for example, in Nigeria, the United States, Greece and South Korea.[18]

The installed nuclear power capacity in Germany was 20 GW in 2008 and 21 GW in 2004. The production of nuclear power was 148 TWh in 2008 (sixth top by 5.4% of world total) and 167 TWh in 2004 (fourth top by 6.1% of world total).[14][19]

In 2009, nuclear power production saw a 19% reduction compared to 2004, and its share had declined smoothly over time from 27% to 23%. The share of renewable electricity increased, substituting for nuclear power.[10]

Wind turbines in Baltic Sea in 2013

German renewable energy production by source 2000–2017

Germany has been called "the world's first major renewable energy economy".[20][21] Renewable energy in Germany is mainly based on wind, solar and biomass. Germany had the world's largest photovoltaic installed capacity until 2014, and as of 2016, it is third with 40 GW. It is also the world's third country by installed wind power capacity, at 50 GW, and second for offshore wind, with over 4 GW.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, along with a vast majority of her compatriots, believes, "As the first big industrialized nation, we can achieve such a transformation toward efficient and renewable energies, with all the opportunities that brings for exports, developing new technologies and jobs".[22] The share of renewable electricity rose from just 3.4% of gross electricity consumption in 1990 to exceed 10% by 2005, 20% by 2011 and 30% by 2015, reaching 36.2% of consumption by year end 2017.[23] As with most countries, the transition to renewable energy in the transport and heating and cooling sectors has been considerably slower.

More than 23,000 wind turbines and 1.4 million solar PV systems are distributed all over the country.[24][25] According to official figures, around 370,000 people were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2010, particularly in small and medium-sized companies.[26] This is an increase of around 8% compared to 2009 (around 339,500 jobs), and well over twice the number of jobs in 2004 (160,500). About two-thirds of these jobs are attributed to the Renewable Energy Sources Act.[27][28]

Germany's federal government is working to increase renewable energy commercialization,[29] with a particular focus on offshore wind farms.[30] A major challenge is the development of sufficient network capacities for transmitting the power generated in the North Sea to the large industrial consumers in southern parts of the country.[31] Germany's energy transition, the Energiewende, designates a significant change in energy policy from 2011. The term encompasses a reorientation of policy from demand to supply and a shift from centralized to distributed generation (for example, producing heat and power in very small cogeneration units), which should replace overproduction and avoidable energy consumption with energy-saving measures and increased efficiency.

Elbe Crossing 1 (center) and 2 (right, one mast only)

Elbe Crossing 1 is a group of masts providing an overhead crossing of a 220 kV three-phase alternating current electric powerline across the River Elbe.[33] Constructed between 1959 and 1962 as part of the line from Stade to Hamburg north, it consists of four masts. Each of the two portal masts is a guyed mast 50 metres in height with a crossbeam at a height of 33 metres. One of these masts stands on the Schleswig-Holstein bank of the Elbe and the other on the Lower Saxony bank. Two identical carrying masts 189 metres in height, each weighing 330 tons, ensure the necessary passage height of 75 metres over the Elbe. One stands on the island of Lühesand, the other in the Buhnenfeld on the Schleswig-Holstein side.

Because of the swampy terrain, each mast's foundation is built on pilings driven into the ground. The Lühesand portal mast rests on 41 pilings and the one on the Buhnenfeld on 57. In contrast to the usual construction of such lattice-steel transmission towers, the direction of the line passes diagonally over the square ground cross section of the pylon, resulting in savings in material. The two crossbeams for the admission of the six conductor cables are at a height of 166 metres and 179 metres. The mast on the Buhnenfeld bears at a height of 30 metres a radar facility belonging to the Water and Navigation Office of the Port of Hamburg. Each portal mast has stairs and gangways for maintenance of flight safety beacons, and has a hoist for heavy loads.

Elbe Crossing 2 is a group of transmission towers providing overhead lines for four 380 kV three-phase alternating current (AC) circuits across the German river Elbe.[34][35] It was constructed between 1976 and 1978 to supplement Elbe Crossing 1, and consists of four towers:

• A 76-metre-tall anchor pylon located in Lower Saxony, on the Elbe's southern banks.
• Two carrying pylons, each 227 metres tall. One is located on the island of Lühesand and the other is near Hetlingen in Schleswig-Holstein, on the northern shore.

These pylons are the tallest pylons in Europe and the sixth tallest of the world. They stand on 95 stakes because of the unfavorable building ground. The base of each pylon measures 45×45 metres and each pylon weighs 980 tons. Crossbeams, which hold up the power cables, are located at heights of 172, 190 and 208 metres. The crossbeams span 56 meters (lowest crossbeam), 72 metres (middle crossbeam) and 57 metres (highest crossbeam). Each pylon has a self-propelled climbing elevator for maintenance of the aircraft warning lights; each elevator runs inside a steel tube in the centre of the mast, around which there is a spiral staircase.

• A 62-metre-tall anchor pylon on the Schleswig-Holstein side.

The enormous height of the two carrying pylons ensures that the passage height requirement of 75 metres over the Elbe demanded by German authorities is met. The height requirement ensures that large ships are able to enter Hamburg's deep-water port.