He said that should climb to a share of about 27 percent by 2020.

"We are expanding the share of renewable energy faster than other EU states," Gabriel said in a statement.

Renewable energy had risen almost 13 percent last year to account for 11.8 percent of the country's total electricity supply, he said.

"This means we that we can reach Germany's ambitious climate protection goals in parallel with the phasing out of atomic energy," said Gabriel.

"There will be no power gaps and so there is no reason to abandon our course of getting out of atomic power."

Merkel, head of the Christian Democrats (CDU), would prefer to abandon plans to phase out nuclear power that were introduced by the previous Social Democrat-Greens coalition.

However, after a narrow election victory in 2005, the Social Democrats forced her to sign up to a coalition deal which included a pledge to continue with the closures.

As concern grows about global warming, several European countries are having second thoughts about previously unpopular nuclear power as -- unlike coal or gas fired power stations -- it is virtually free of climate-changing emissions.

Gabriel said the annual increase in renewable energy in the power sector was equivalent to a year's production at a nuclear plant.

As EU president, Germany has made a priority of tackling climate change but the country is reliant on pollution-heavy coal power plants. As Europe's biggest economy, it is also Europe's biggest polluter.

Figures from industry association VDEW, released this month, showed renewable energy rose about 15 percent last year in Germany, with wind power contributing the most, followed by hydro and biomass.