Wind power provided nearly half of Germany’s power for a whole week.
Here’s some good news for renewables (and something for the U.S. wind industry to aspire to): Renewable energy sources supplied nearly 65% of Germany’s electricity last week, with wind turbines responsible for a large portion of that generation and 48.4% of power production nationwide.
In fact, according to research institute Fraunhofer ISE, a result of renewables the fossil fuel plants in the country ran at a minimum and nuclear facilities were completely shut down at night. Along with the majority of the power sources from wind last week, solar contributed 5.1%, biomass 7.6%, and hydropower 3.5%.
“These figures show that the envisaged goal of 65% renewables by 2030 is technically feasible,” said Bruno Burger, a solar researcher with Fraunhofer, in a recent statement. In addition, as analysts at Renew Economy point out, wind power at no time dipped below the maximum output of either nuclear or coal last week.
Germany recently increased its renewable goal from 55 to 65% by 2030 to compensate for the decommissioning of aging nuclear and coal plants. Based on last week’s results, the country is clearly already capable of meeting that goal and sooner than anticipated.
In 2018, renewables generated an average of 40.4% of Germany’s electricity, and reports show that onshore wind increased by 36% and offshore wind by 26% this year over results from February 2018. Solar power is also on the rise.
Filed Under: News, Policy
