Renewables cover almost 100% of German demand

PV Magazine

morbach_wind_solar_02On Sunday midday, close to 100% of the electricity demand in Germany was covered by renewable sources. A lot of sun and wind made this possible.

Almost 100% of the electricity demand in Germany noon last Sunday was covered by PV and wind power. According to the evaluation by the forum “Together against interim storage, and for responsible energy politics” the PV plants at noon produced more than 24 GW of solar power.

Wind power contributed more than 18 GW. The electricity consumption in Germany was at around 55 GW at this point of time as indicated by “Agorameter” which gather electricity data in the country.

This demand is seen as pretty low, mostly a result of warm temperatures, the summer break and the weekend, when most commercial operations remained closed. But exactly at such points of time, it can be proven how renewables can come close to covering 100% of the demanded energy.

“Obviously we will not be able to reach the 100% renewable energy mark for 2015 anymore. But in spring and summer 2016, with the addition of new wind power generators, and an unfortunately small number of PV plant additions, the 100% goal is reachable. Historical! If we accelerate the PV plant development once again and keep up the wind power plant development, this can happen quickly,” the forum further highlighted.

PV and wind are seen as the “working horses” that will pull the Energiewende in Germany over the next two years. This is further asserted by the fact that electricity from new plants will be delivered at less than €0.10/kWh. On top of that, load management, grid redevelopment and storage will be necessary. More also has to be done in the direction of energy efficiency. The forum suggests a social ecological tax reform to make energy somewhat more expensive, and with the revenue to reduce income taxes on paid work.

Translated by Shamsiah Ali-Oettinger

Source: PV Magazine. Reproduced with permission.

Comments

12 responses to “Renewables cover almost 100% of German demand”

  1. Marcelo Avatar
    Marcelo

    Bravo! Leading the world in renewable energy is far better than leading the world in coal exports.

  2. patb2009 Avatar
    patb2009

    Increasing efficiency may also help close the gap.

  3. Barri Mundee Avatar
    Barri Mundee

    Shows what is possible, though a warm weekend helped to keep demand low. And if Germany can do it so can this country. If need be perhaps gas can be kept as stand-by and if enough storage is installed, even this may not be needed.

  4. BsrKr11 Avatar
    BsrKr11

    this is misleading- this is only for the day- how about the other half of the day? This is the next major challenge as long with changing attitudes about consumption in the first place….
    it will be a very hard lesson to realize that we are not going to run business as usual on renewables – societies political and cultural organizational structures reflect that societies energy base, and the concentration of power made possible by the concentrated power of fossil fuels will not be sustained in a distributive energy paradigm …and if you follow this string far enough you ask, what’s the purpose of the economy? Is business the highest aspirational goal of humanity? I think we will need to mature a wee bit before the picture becomes clear on the potential and how radically different a picture this transition offers humanity.

    1. Giles Avatar

      What a pity you weren’t there when the steam engine was switched on for the first time, when the car made its first trip, when the first commercial flight was made, when the first computer was switched on. You could have stopped them right then and there before they went ahead with their crazy, economy-breaking fantasies.

      1. BsrKr11 Avatar
        BsrKr11

        Giles- if you believe we are going to continue to grow the economy forever and ever then you’re delusional – yes renewable energy has amazing potential but not to run a infinite growth machine as our current society is designed.

        When you decompress the message behind renewables it goes something like this- we don’t have to change our behaviour at all- technology is going to save us.
        this is the same thinking that got us into this problem- and might I suggest that the message of climate change is far broader than just the one metric of emissions!!

        Also since you are the expert in this area why don’t you point to the manufacture of components for the renewable industry and show me one that has plans to move their entire energy requirements over to renewables as to not NEED fossil fuel subsidies….

        mate for someone who is as smart as you are, how you thought that the original message was some Luddite message not understanding the transformational role of technology is beyond me, but the challenge is not a technical one, it is going to be a cultural shift that will see us avoid the horrendous consequences we are currently on target to experience.

        for if you think renewables will just magically replace fossil fuels in a fractional reserve banking system dependant on growth you don’t understand the nature of compounding interest…

        the problem is not renewables it is the design of our economy, and no technical fix is going solve the problems that arise from the belief that we can grow our footprint forever on a finite planet. this is what the first message was aimed at not renewables or any limits to the technology, but to current limits of our archetypal stories

        1. Giles Avatar

          I don’t advocate infinite growth. It has nothing to do with what is discussed here. Renewables will grow – quickly – and the economy will adapt, as it has to all other technological breakthroughs.

          1. BsrKr11 Avatar
            BsrKr11

            How can you separate the infinite growth requirements of the economy from the discussion of renewable energy? That’s like trying to discuss living in space without the need to replace the oxygen cannisters…

            it’s absolutely vitally intrinsic to a meaningful conversation – for emissions are not the only metric that is showing danger signs to humanity- yes it is the most critical – but water, soil degradation, plastics in oceans etc are all blaring red sirens and what is the thing connecting them all?

            The macro box set of ideas, our archetypal stories, our cultural myths of Progress that manifest as a infinite growth machine powered by fossil fuels…. if we don’t change these stories then I fear no amount of renewable energy will matter….

            So ignoring the relationship between the energy, society and the environment leaves us bereft of the true potential of transitioning off fossil fuels

            and this forum is a brilliant place to discuss these issues since this holistic view will help us deploy renewable energy more intelligently

    2. JonathanMaddox Avatar
      JonathanMaddox

      Who says that renewables are supposed to run business as usual? They’re helping to run business as it is now, which is quite different to how it was 20 years ago and probably quite different to how it will be in another 20 years too, when renewables will do much more of the heavy lifting.

      1. BsrKr11 Avatar
        BsrKr11

        The parameters of the equation at the heart of our banking system if not altered will define humanities failure to deal with climate change. meaning we need to redefine the process of creating money which will redefine business as usual. ..renewable energy will play a key role but the change to the process of money creation will be the star

    3. James Hilden-Minton Avatar
      James Hilden-Minton

      You’re concerned about preserving “the concentration of power made possible by the concentrated power of fossil fuel”? Why is that worth preserving? A world in which people are free to make and share their own power sounds pretty good to me.

      1. BsrKr11 Avatar
        BsrKr11

        I’m all for distribution of power. ..who’d you think wouldn’t be?

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