1. Introduction

This chapter provides an introduction to the book entitled “energiewende “Made in Germany”—Low-Carbon Electricity Sector Reform in the European Context”. The energiewende is the German approach to the low-carbon transformation. It emerged at a time where many countries in Europe and around the globe were considering how to move to lower carbon energy systems, and most of them still are. Our working hypothesis, based on extensive modeling exercises, policy consulting, personal on-site case studies, and the growing literature, is that the energiewende is a unique political-historical period that will transform the structure of the German energy sector, leading to more decentralized energy production and decision-making and transforming the structure of the energy industry within Germany and beyond. So far, the energiewende has been a success overall, in particular because the foundation for a renewables-based electricity system has been laid. Yet other objectives had to be postponed, though, such as the GHG emission reduction target for 2020 (−40%, relative to 1990). While the lessons of the energiewende do not apply directly to all countries and regions worldwide, they offer insights from the natural experiment of transforming a large-scale, conventional electricity system based on coal and nuclear energy into a renewables-based system. Our analysis focuses on the electricity sector, but we also address other challenges in the transport and heating sectors, as well as the upcoming interconnectedness between the three, called “sector coupling”. Section 1.2 spells out the key characteristics of the energiewende, which later chapters will analyze in more detail. Section 1.3 looks at the German energiewende in the context of the energy and climate policy literature, Sect. 1.4 presents a detailed outline of the book, and the last Section concludes with acknowledgements.