So far this year, the weather has been on the side of climate protection: plenty of sun and wind are ensuring abundant production of renewable energies, and last March even marked a sunshine record. The long-term outlook for the industry is also dazzling. "Politicians are pushing hard to expand renewables - not only for climate protection, but also to promote energy sovereignty", explains Markus W. Voigt, CEO of the aream Group. 

Germany is experiencing a brilliant start to spring: the sun shone around 15 percent longer than usual as early as February. In addition, March was the sunniest since the beginning of weather records in 1951, even exceeding the multi-year average for the summer month of July. This pleased not only the people, but also the solar energy producers: The target achievement was 148 percent. However, the yield was weaker in southern Europe: In Italy, the target achievement in March was 94 percent, in Spain only 68 percent. Here, the radiation values were also significantly lower than in Germany.

The wind turbine harvest in March was 30 percent below target. In the previous month, however, powerful storms had swept across Germany, with numerous weather stations reporting new records for wind speed. In the first three months of the year, the targets were therefore just achieved. "Strong and weak months balance each other out in the medium term, which is why investors should spread their investments over several locations and forms of energy", advises Voigt.

Overall, the outlook for investors is favorable, and the industry is likely to experience a new surge. The war in Ukraine demonstrates the urgency of becoming less dependent on energy imports. "Politicians have planned far-reaching steps in this regard", says Voigt. The Ministry of Economics and the Ministry of Finance have agreed to spend a total of 200 billion euros on climate change and energy sovereignty by 2026. Around 90 billion euros are to flow into the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF).

In addition, the EEG will be amended in 2023. According to the draft bill, this should result in electricity being generated almost entirely by renewables as early as 2035. To achieve the expansion target, the expansion paths and tender volumes for onshore wind energy and solar energy are to be increased: For onshore wind energy, an annual expansion of ten gigawatts is planned by 2027; for photovoltaics, 20 GW per year is to be achieved by 2028 and maintained until 2035. There are also plans to remove obstacles to expansion and improve the framework conditions. "The plans show that policymakers are really serious about the climate turnaround", says Voigt. "For investors, this offers a wide range of opportunities."