Documentary about the IBA Hamburg Wihelmsburg

New study makes the progress of the federal states in the energy transition transparent

Berlin/Stuttgart, 16 November 2017. Baden-Württemberg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bavaria are the leading federal states in the field of renewable energies. This is the result of the comparison of the federal states published today, which the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) have prepared for the fifth time on behalf of and in cooperation with the Agency for Renewable Energies (AEE). Based on 59 indicators, the analysis assesses in detail the political efforts and successes of the federal states in the use of renewable energies as well as in the associated economic and technical transformation. Hesse, Berlin and Saarland are at the bottom of the ranking.

The federal states are important players in the energy transition. They not only implement the energy goals of the federal government and the EU with concrete expansion on the ground, but they can also decisively advance or slow down the progress of the energy transition through their own goals, priorities and programmes as well as the design of framework conditions. The Comparison of Renewable Energies in Germany by DIW Berlin, ZSW and AEE shows the political efforts as well as the successes in the use of renewable energies and in technological and economic structural change on the basis of 59 individual indicators and in four summarising indicator groups. On the one hand, indicators record, for example, the energy policy programmes of the respective federal states, the shares of renewable energies in energy consumption and the successes in expanding individual technologies such as wind power or solar energy. On the other hand, research efforts in the field of renewable energies, support for the settlement of companies from the sector and patent applications in this field are analysed.

Federal states can learn from each other in individual areas of action

"With the Renewable Energies Comparison of the German Federal States, which is now in its fifth year, we can make the energy transition developments comparable at the federal level and thus assess who is acting particularly successfully and where there is still potential for optimisation," explains Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert, Head of the Energy, Transport and Environment Department at DIW Berlin. "The current study shows new highs for many indicators, for example with regard to the shares of renewable energies in the federal states and a progressive expansion in the various technologies. In general, most countries are on the right track, even if there are differences in the pace of development," Kemfert continues.

Baden-Württemberg tops the list ahead of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

The highest number of points in the current overall ranking was achieved by Baden-Württemberg, which thus reached the top position for the first time. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania came in second. Both states improved by one position compared to the last ranking in 2014. The last leader, Bavaria, achieved the third-highest total number of points.
Prof. Dr. Frithjof Staiß, Executive Director of the ZSW, comments on the results: "The variety of indicators allows a detailed classification of the strengths and weaknesses of each federal state. The three front-runners alone differ significantly here: Baden-Württemberg scores above all with its political input for the use of renewable energies, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is strong in the area of structural change and Bavaria continues to show high expansion rates for renewables."

"However, not everything is bad in Saarland, which brings up the rear, nor is Baden-Württemberg a pioneer in all areas and could now lay its hands in its lap," Staiß continues. "There is potential for improvement there, for example, in the economic importance of renewable energies. In this area, on the other hand, the last-placed Saarland can at least score points in the development of sales with renewable technologies."

Need for action even with previous successes

While progress can be seen in most individual indicators for all countries, there are also backward trends in various places in individual countries, for example in the share of renewables in district heating or in the development of energy-related CO2 emissions. Philipp Vohrer, AEE Managing Director, comments: "Even where encouraging values can be noted, the system transformation is far from complete. The study clearly shows where things are going wrong and where there is still an urgent need for action. There is still room for improvement everywhere - here we can learn something from the countries that scored better on the individual points. For the successful realisation of the energy transition and in particular the achievement of the climate goals, further efforts are needed, also and especially in the federal states.

Further information

The entire study as well as a summary, reflections on the individual countries and charts to the results can be found collected on the page www.foederal-erneuerbar.de/bundeslaendervergleich-erneuerbare-energien.

Under the link you will also find some downloadable Quotes from AEE Managing Director Philipp Vohrer on the background to the comparison of the federal states and on the results of the individual states.

The study was prepared as part of the Federal Renewable Energy project with funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

The participating institutes

The DIW Berlin (German Institute for Economic Research) has been one of the leading economic research institutes in Germany since 1925. It researches economic and socio-scientific correlations in socially relevant subject areas and advises politics and society on this basis. The institute is networked nationally and internationally, provides research infrastructure that is used worldwide and promotes young researchers. DIW Berlin is independent and, as a member of the Leibniz Association, is predominantly financed by public funds.
www.diw.de

The Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) is one of the leading institutes for applied research in the fields of photovoltaics, renewable fuels, battery technology and fuel cells as well as energy system analysis. Around 230 scientists, engineers and technicians are currently employed at the three ZSW locations in Stuttgart, Ulm and Widderstall. In addition, there are 90 scientific and student assistants.

The ZSW is a member of the Innovationsallianz Baden-Württemberg (innBW), an association of 13 non-university, business-related research institutes.
www.zsw-bw.de

Keywords:
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