Germany installed 7.18 GW of solar capacity in 2022, a growth of 35.47% year-over-year (YoY) from 5.3 GW installed in the last year, according to the latest data released by the Federal Network Agency Bundesnetzagentur.

The country’s cumulative solar capacity at the end of the year stood at 66.5 GW.

The solar installations during the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022 stood at 1.53 GW, a 23.47% YoY increase.

The state of Bayern led the solar installations in the country with 2.09 GW installed during the year, followed by Nordrhein-Westfalen with 899 MW and Brandenburg with 794 MW.

Last year, however, the country faced many challenges, with multiple renewable energy tenders getting undersubscribed due to the low ceiling tariff.

In December, a 202 MW tender round was undersubscribed for solar systems on buildings and noise protection walls. It corresponded to the average of the bid volume of the accepted bids from the bidding rounds on April 1, 2022, and August 1, 2022, and was thus significantly below the previous round.

The tender in June for 1.126 GW of solar projects was undersubscribed by 412 MW, which meant a whopping 37% of the tendered capacity did not find any takers.

The country has taken several steps after that to ensure the success of such tenders issued in the future.

Bundestag (German Parliament) allowed the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) to raise the tariff cap by up to 25% to €0.1125 (~$0.12)/kWh for rooftop solar systems tender for 2023.

In December, the European Commission approved the amendment to a German government’s program called Renewable Energy Act 2023 (EEG 2023), with an overall budget of €28 billion (~$29.6 billion), which seeks to extend and modify the country’s support of renewable energy. Under the program, Germany has introduced an effective volume control mechanism to encourage innovation in tenders that will be invited to develop rooftop and ground-mounted solar projects along with onshore wind and biomethane projects.

Germany, a top importer of Russian gas before the war in Ukraine, has been at the epicenter of the energy crisis in Europe since the war in Ukraine broke out.

The country is now leading the charge in the energy transition to renewables to meet the energy demands of its massive industrial sector.

Solar installations in the country lead the renewable transition and are expected to see considerable growth in the coming quarters.

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, while addressing a session at the 53rd World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2023, reaffirmed that the country’s renewable shift is well on track despite setbacks and has accelerated post the Russian invasion of Ukraine.