This is quite an achievement for the 4th largest economy in the world and one of the most developed and industrialized nations worldwide
Last Sunday, 8 May, at 11am local time, 95% of Germany's power demands were met by renewable energy sources. Energy consumption at the time came in at 57.8 GW, whereas the total output of solar, wind, hydropower, and biomass reached 55 GW (it’s important to note that most likely, not all of that 55 GW could be used at the time it was generated due to system and grid limitations, but it’s still noteworthy that this quantity of power was produced). Α sunny day and strong winds contributed to this achievement - solar power met 45.2 % of that total (26.11 GW), wind power 36 % (20.83 GW), biomass power 8.9 % (5.14 GW), and hydropower plants 4.8 % (2.75 GW). Up to 2014, Germany was the world leader in cumulative PV installations, but since 2015 China leads the pace with as much as 43,6 GW compared to 39,7 GW in the European country (Japan follows with 34,4 GW, the USA with 25,6 GW and Italy with 18,9 GW).
In Germany, the share of renewables in power generation has grown 7-fold during the period from 1991 to 2014. And it does not stop there. The German government hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95 % and hit a target of a 60 % share for renewable energy sources in total final energy consumption by 2050.
