In the first half of 2014, nearly 29% of Germany’s electricity came from renewable sources – a new record. Yet the country has one of the world’s most efficient and reliable grids.
In terms of reliability, only Japan and Singapore rival Germany for reliability. Germany lost just under 16 minutes per customer in 2012. In the United States by comparison, electricity was unavailable for an average of 244 minutes per customer in 2008.
By moving to renewables while simultaneously backing away from nuclear following the Fukushima disaster, Germany has dramatically reduced its reliance on “traditional” baseload power. As a result, the country has had to lean heavily on the balancing market, where utilities earn fees for adding or cutting electricity within seconds to keep the grid stable.
Because the balancing market is so much more active than before, many assumed that the grid would be less reliable. “The crazed internal dynamics of Germany’s grid may be stressful for its operators,” says Jeff Spross in his Climate Progress article. “But the country has managed to stitch all those changes together into a remarkably consistent and reliable stream of electricity for German customers.”
Despite the good news about reliability, critics may be right when it comes to prices. German electricity prices are considerably higher than any of their European neighbors.
Condensed from an article by Jeff Spross, August 12 on Climate Progress. Reprinted by permission. Full article at
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/12/3470070/germany-reliable-grid-renewables.