Europe / Caspian / CIS
Country profile: Germany
Location: | Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark |
Climate: | temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm mountain (foehn) wind |
Terrain: | lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south |
Size: | 357021 sq. km total (Land area: 349223 sq. km Water area: 7798 sq.km) |
Population: | 82,369,548 (July 2008 est.) |
Languages: | German |
Government: | federal republic |
Capital city: | Berlin |
Legal system: | civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Currency: | euro (EUR) |
Licensing: |
Country profile
Germany has one of the largest economies in the world, with a 2005 nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.8 trillion. In recent years, economic growth has resumed, after GDP contracted by 0.2 percent in 2003. However, high unemployment and sluggish domestic demand continue to dampen economic growth. Owning to its large economy, Germany is one of the world’s largest energy consumers. In 2004, the country consumed 14.7 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Btu) of total energy, the fifth-largest amount in the world.
Besides coal, Germany does not possess any sizable hydrocarbon reserves, so the country must rely upon imports to meet the majority of its energy needs. The lack of domestic hydrocarbon resources has led Germany to become a world leader in the development of renewable energy technologies, with the country becoming the world’s largest producer of biodiesel and generator of electricity from wind.
As Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation, Germany is a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed Germany in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR).
The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the EC, which became the EU, and NATO, while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring Eastern productivity and wages up to Western standards. In January 1999, Germany and 10 other EU countries introduced a common European exchange currency, the euro.
Energy production and consumption
Oil | Gas | |
Production: | 141,700 bbl/day (2005) | 19 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Consumption: | 2 million bbl/day (2005 est.) | 96 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Exports: | 518,700 bbl/day (2004) | 9 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Imports: | 2 million bbl/day (2004) | 86 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Reserves: | 367 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.) | 246 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
Major fields: |
Germany - recent news
24 Jul 24 |
Integrated Power in Germany: TotalEnergies launches new 100 MW / 200 MWh battery storage development TotalEnergies has taken the final investment decision for a 100 MW /200 MWh battery storage project in Dahlem, North Rhine-Westphalia. This is the first project sanctioned by TotalEnergies from the pipeline of Kyon Energy, Germany’s leading battery storage system developer, which was recently acquired by TotalEnergies in February 2024. |
22 Jul 24 |
Germany: Qualitas Energy wins tender for 39.9 MW wind farm in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany Qualitas Energy wins the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) tender for 39.9 MW greenfield project in Dalkendorf, Rostock district. An order has been placed for the delivery of seven Nordex N149 turbines, each with a capacity of 5.7 MW. |
17 Jul 24 |
Germany: IPCEI funding approval paves way for progress at bp’s Lingen green hydrogen project bp has been granted funding, provided jointly by BMWK and Lower-Saxony Government, as part of the European IPCEI Hy2Infra wave for a green hydrogen project in Germany. The funding will help support the development of a 100MW green hydrogen project next to bp’s Lingen Refinery. |
16 Jul 24 |
Germany: Nordex Group installs world’s first N175/6.X turbine in Germany On July 12th, the Nordex Group installed the world’s first N175/6.X turbine at the Bürgerwindpark Janneby (community wind farm) in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The N175/6.X is the most powerful Nordex turbine specifically for medium and light wind sites. |
08 Jul 24 |
Germany: PNE successful in onshore wind energy tenders for 91.5 MW In May, the PNE Group has once again scored successes in the tender round for onshore wind turbines of the Federal Network Agency. All four wind farms submitted were awarded the contract. The wind energy projects 'Lütau', 'Wulfsdorf', 'Willerstedt' and 'Kuhstedt III' have passed the current tender round. |
Germany - more news
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