Figures from research institute, ZSW for solar energy and hydrogen, and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), indicate renewable energy will meet roughly 33% of Germanys gross energy demand in 2015, up from 27% last year.

Led by wind and PV power, renewables are set to generate around 193 billion kWh of energy, compared to 161 billion in 2014. Despite a moderate installation rate, solar plants have produced 35 billion kWh of energy in the first 10 months of 2015  as much as was produced in the whole of last year. Wind, meanwhile, had already generated 63 billion kWh by October 31, up around 47% on the same period in 2014.

"Regardless of the exact shares at the end of the year, it is again clear that renewable energies in Germanys electricity mix continue to gain in importance," commented Hildegard Müller, chairwoman of the BDEW.

She added that at the same time, the pressure to integrate renewables into the countrys overall power generation system is increasing. "The adequate configuration of the necessary structures must be pursued with urgency," she stated, including the expansion of transmission and distribution networks.