Press release Renewable energy investments of Commerz Real generate savings of some 1.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2021

Commerz Real has reported electricity generation of 2,678 gigawatt-hours in 2021 by its ten investment products for renewable energy. According to figures for 2019 released by Germany’s Federal Statistics Office, this corresponds to the average annual consumption of approx. 850,000 German private households. This is associated with a saving of about 1.2 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, calculated on the basis of parameters used by the German Federal Environmental Agency and the International Financial Institutions referring to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Comparable carbon dioxide fixation could be achieved by some 110 million beech trees each with a height of 23 metres, according to the Bavarian State Research Centre for Forestry and Forest Management; which is approximately three times the size of the city state of Hamburg.

Thanks to the so-called feed-in priority for renewable energies pursuant to the Renewable Energies Act, preference is given to electricity from regenerative sources for feeding in to the electricity grid. Thus every kilowatt-hour generated from renewable energy enjoys priority over the corresponding kilowatt-hour of fossil-fuel electricity. At European level the feed-in priority is laid down in the EU’s Internal Market for Electricity Directive. In addition, the lower costs of wind and solar energy lead to these being given priority for consumption.

Commerz Real has already been investing in solar energy since 2005 and in wind energy plants since 2016. At present the asset manager for real asset investments in the Commerzbank Group manages more than 50 solar power stations and over 30 onshore and offshore wind farms with a total installed capacity of more than 1.4 gigawatts.