Germany, the biggest economy in Europe, reached 100 per cent renewable energy for several hours on Monday, as huge output from its array of wind and solar installations coincided with a May Day holiday when demand was subdued.
According to the official data, the combination of renewables reached 58GW round 1pm, compared with a demand peak of around 53GW. For several hours either side of that time, the renewable output was greater than demand, with excess power being exported to neighbouring countries.
Over the whole day, renewables accounted for 71.3 per cent of total generation on Monday, May 1, with wind and solar contributing 55 per cent.
Over the year to date, the contribution of wind and solar has been 42 per cent of total generation, with wind and solar providing 28 per cent, and wind (22.2 per cent) falling just short of brown coal (23.2 per cent) as the biggest single contributor for the year to date.
The figures for 2018 show increased growth over 2017, when Germany reached 36.5% renewables as a share of domestic demand, meaning the country surpassed its 2020 target of 35 per cent share of renewables in domestic demand three years early.
Renewables described as not only the cheapest new power source around the world, but also…
Network owner says it pursued winding up of Zen Energy due to outstanding debts, as…
One of the biggest solar and battery projects Victoria has been sold to Swedish renewables…
Farming family wants to host solar and battery project to underpin and co-exist with farming…
Regulator bans another company from state's energy upgrades program, because of falsified photos used to…
The Electrify 2515 trial shows that the ability of networks to offer customers real value…