prokon | Green electricity from Germany – directly from the producer

Energy producer in citizens' hands

Did you know that many energy suppliers offer green electricity, which they do not produce themselves but rather buy from elsewhere? Many energy suppliers are actually just electricity traders. Not Prokon though. As Germany's largest energy cooperative, we are primarily operators of wind and PV parks, generating electricity exclusively from renewable sources. We are not owned by any corporation, but rather by 40,000 citizens who are owners of the Citizen Energy Cooperative. In addition, we ensure through our own project development that more and more wind and PV parks as well as biogas plants come online, further expanding the share of renewable energies.

Greenwashing? Not with us!

Each year, our power plants generate over 1 billion kWh of carbon-free electricity. For many years, we have fed this energy completely into the grid at fixed feed-in tariffs due to the rules of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) – our contribution to a greener electricity mix in Germany. However, electricity generated in state-subsidised facilities cannot be "double" marketed as green electricity, meaning the Guarantees of Origin cannot be used for an eco-electricity label. These certificates are typically used to label and market the electricity as "green" or "environmentally friendly" – this is classic Greenwashing.

Green electricity from the producer: How does the principle work?

Since 2021, we have been marketing the energy from our wind parks, for which the EEG subsidies have expired, independently. Since then, we have been trading more and more kilowatt hours with ourselves and feed in at least as much electricity over the year as our customers take from the grid.

And what if there's a lull in our wind parks? Our partner BayWa r.e. ensures that you are always supplied with sufficient electricity. BayWa r.e. then brings in the missing quantities from its portfolio – also with renewable energies from Germany. In return, we supply BayWa r.e. with excess amounts on windy days.

This complex structuring of electricity quantities ensures that our customers are always reliably supplied – with effectively 100% Prokon wind electricity!

Your decision makes the difference

What does this mean for you now? Quite simply: Your decision to choose your electricity provider can make a real difference! Because green electricity does not actually contribute to the expansion of generation capacities in Germany if it is only labelled as 'green' through proof of origin, for example from foreign hydropower plants. It does not help the energy transition if the energy provider procures the electricity anonymously in the wholesale market and is indifferent to whether anyone else invests in expanding generation capacities and network expansion. If all energy providers like Prokon were to invest their profits in expanding renewable energies and feed more green electricity into the grid than they take from it, the energy transition would have already been completed.