Abstract The German energy transition is widely recognized as a pioneering national-scale experiment in achieving deep decarbonization, yet scholarly understanding remains fragmented across disciplines, technologies and policy domains. Despite extensive literature on renewable expansion and sectoral reforms, a comprehensive review of how the German energy system is structurally evolving, particularly in the post-nuclear and coal phase-out era, has been lacking. This gap is critical given the need to assess whether the transition is achieving systemic coherence across infrastructure, governance, and market design in pursuit of climate neutrality. Here, we provide a systematic review and bibliometric analysis of German energy transition research (2010–2024), structured around five thematic pillars: policy and strategy, sustainable energy system (SES) foundations, renewable and storage technologies, smart grids and digitalization, and sector coupling. We combine quantitative insights from Web of Science datasets ( n = 1,755) with qualitative synthesis to map the intellectual landscape, highlight emerging trends, and assess the role of German institutions in shaping the discourse. Our results show increasing integration across sectors, particularly electricity, heating, and transport, driven by Power-to-X technologies and flexible demand management. Furthermore, we trace German energy transition from a top-down, fossil-dominated grid to a decentralized, renewable-rich energy system enabled by smart technologies, citizen participation, and evolving legal frameworks. These findings suggest that German energy transition is maturing into a complex, adaptive socio-technical system. Although significant challenges remain, such as market volatility, grid congestion and the circularity of energy technologies, the interplay of data-driven system design, flexible markets and social innovation is creating a replicable model for other countries. By documenting these integrative dynamics, our review offers a consolidated reference for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners aiming to understand or emulate the energy transition. Graphical Abstract
Beck et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
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