Don’t decelerate – integrate!

Despite the global renewable energy boom, numerous concerns can suddenly be heard again in Germany: these energies, it is claimed, are too volatile, unreliable, all too costly and anyhow too complex. In defiance of all the sceptics, however, renewable energies now produce the major share of our electricity. They are climate-smart, cost-effective and competitive – and therefore future-proof. And there is plenty more that they can do, but only if decision-makers set the right frameworks and don’t slow the rapid pace of their development – and if they channel reliable, long-term investment into expanding capacity and key infrastructure such as grids and storage solutions. 

In September 2025, Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy released a monitoring report on the energy transition and a 10-point plan that could result in some of the vast potential of renewables being left untapped. They assume that electricity demand will be lower than previously predicted and are planning cuts in financial support for solar and offshore wind. In my view, this is the wrong approach. Electricity demand will surge if the German government is to reach its climate targets – for that will require electrification of our cars and heating systems.

Instead of squandering the potential of renewable energies and scaling back production, every effort should be made to integrate them efficiently into the power grid. And that means investing in storage solutions. It also means tackling the expansion of smart grids consistently at last, and installing smart meters in homes and businesses across the board. In combination with dynamic electricity tariffs, they can make an important contribution to balancing electricity supply and demand by rewarding consumers for “grid-supportive behaviour” – which means running the washing machine or charging the electric car when electricity is in plentiful supply. 

There is a willingness on the part of consumers, but far too little has been done to exploit it. My friends in Helsinki have been profiting for years from bidirectional charging of their electric cars: power from their e-vehicle batteries is fed back into the public grid when electricity is in short supply, and owners are paid for this service. The Finnish government removed the barriers to this long ago. A similar scheme now exists in France as well. And increasing numbers of e-vehicles are equipped for this. If bidirectional charging were available to German households as well, renewable energies could be integrated far more easily and on an even larger scale into our electricity system – for as I said, they can do much more than we thought, if only we let them.

Yours,

Anke Herold
CEO, Oeko-Institut
a.herold@oeko.de