Germany’s Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) announced July 2 that the country had drawn 35% of its power supply from renewable energy sources in the first half of this year. The new record was up 2 per cent from the 33 per cent produced over the same period last year.
Germany’s renewable energy output – including solar, wind and hydro power – has been increasing steadily over the past ten years, largely thanks to the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) which was reformed earlier this year to cut renewable energy costs for consumers.
During periods of prolonged sunshine and high winds, Germany has been producing as much as 85 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy sources. The nation is also aiming to completely phase out its nuclear power stations by 2022.
In addition, the government has committed to transition to a decarbonised economy by 2050, as well as setting an ambitious target of 80 per cent renewables by 2050.
Renewable energy sources also reached new records in the UK. Renewables’ share of electricity generation was 26.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, up 1.0 percentage points on the share in 2016 Q1, reflecting increased capacity, even though wind speeds were lower than the previous year.
Renewable electricity generation was a record 24.8 TWh in 2017 Q1, an increase of 5.1 per cent on the 23.6 TWh in 2016 Q1. Onshore wind increased by 1.3 TWh (20 per cent) to 7.7 TWh in 2017 Q1, the highest increase across the technologies. Total wind generation increased by 10 per cent to 12.7 TWh; the increase in capacity was partially offset by lower wind speeds. Solar increased by 16 per cent, from 1.5 TWh in 2016 Q1 to 1.7 TWh in 2017 Q1 due to increased capacity.