Phasing out nuclear energy in Germany by 2022 will set the way for non-hydro renewable technologies to dominate its power sector in the future, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The company's latest report, 'Germany Power Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2018 - Market Trends, Regulations, and Competitive Landscape' reveals that the phasing out of the nuclear fleet is expected to be filled out almost exclusively by using non-hydro renewable technologies, which will contribute to more than 70% in the capacity mix in 2030.

In 2017, onshore wind power capacity accounted for the largest share of installed capacity, with 24.1%, closely followed by coal-based capacity and solar photovoltaic (PV) power, which accounted for 22.1% and 20.2%, respectively. Altogether, non-hydro renewables contributed to 51.6% of the country's total installed capacity in 2017.

Chiradeep Chatterjee, Power Analyst at GlobalData, comments: "Non-hydro renewable power capacity is expected to continue growing to establish itself as the dominant source of energy by 2030, when it is expected to account for 71.9% of total installed capacity. On the other hand, it is expected that Germany will have phased out nuclear energy by 2022."

Germany has witnessed drastic expansion in solar photovoltaic (PV) and onshore wind capacities in the historic period (2000-2017). In the forecast period (2018-2030), the government is focusing on expanding offshore wind and geothermal power, which are expected to increase at a Compund Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.7% and 9.9% respectively.

The contribution of thermal capacity is expected to decline from 38.4% in 2017 to 23.2% in 2030, mainly due to a reduction in coal based capacity.

Chatterjee adds: "The share of coal power, which was 22.1% in 2017 in the total capacity mix, is expected to decline to 9.3% in 2030. The gap is expected to be filled up only partially by gas-based capacity which explains the net decline in the share of thermal power."

Generation from wind and solar power is intermittent. Germany plans to compensate for this through a mix of strategies that involve grid based electricity storage, import and export of electricity over a network of interconnectors that connect it to its neighbours, and importing gas from Russia.

GlobalData | www.globaldata.com