Renewable energies with more share of electricity consumption

Electricity consumption will increase significantly in the future due to the growing demand in the area of electromobility and the greater spread of heat pumps. There is therefore no way around renewable energy in the building sector.

Despite unfavourable weather conditions, 40 percent of electricity consumption was covered by renewable energies in the first quarter of this year, calculations by the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) show. In 2020 as a whole, renewable energies already had a 46 percent share of electricity consumption. At the beginning of 2020, which was extremely windy, even about 52 percent of electricity consumption came from renewable energies. 

However, these promising developments cannot hide the fact that significant improvements are also needed in other areas of renewable energies. More hydropower, wood energy, biogas and geothermal energy are also needed for a successful energy transition, warns the Renewable Energy Platform Baden-Württemberg. These renewable energies are also needed because their energy production is not dependent on the weather and is not subject to large fluctuations.

The building sector plays an important role in the course of the energy transition. That is why the federal government has agreed on a new regulation: If housing companies supply electricity from renewable energies to their tenants in future, for example via charging stations for electric cars, the revenue from this will not be subject to trade tax. Housing companies are allowed to generate income from the supply of electricity of up to ten percent of the income from housing management without their tenant income becoming subject to trade tax. In addition, the state promotes the use of renewable energy, for example for heating, through various programmes. 

(Photo: © Jukka Niittymaa, Pixabay)