On Sunday (May 12), Germany’s impressive streak of renewable energy milestones continued, with renewable energy generation surging to a record portion — nearly 75 percent — of the country’s overall electricity demand by midday. With wind and solar in particular filling such a huge portion of the country’s power demand, electricity prices actually dipped into the negative for much of the afternoon, according to Renewables International.
In the first quarter of 2014, renewable energy sources met a record 27 percent of the country’s electricity demand, thanks to additional installations and favorable weather. “Renewable generators produced 40.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, up from 35.7 billion kilowatt-hours in the same period last year,” Bloomberg reported. Much of the country’s renewable energy growth has occurred in the past decade and, as a point of comparison, Germany’s 27 percent is double the approximately 13 percent of U.S. electricity supply powered by renewables as of November 2013.
Observers say the records will keep coming as Germany continues its Energiewende, or energy transformation, which aims to power the country almost entirely on renewable sources by 2050.
“Once again, it was demonstrated that a modern electricity system such as the German one can already accept large penetration rates of variable but predictable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar PV power,” said Bernard Chabot, a renewable energy consultant based in France, via email. “In fact there are no technical and economic obstacles to go first to 20 percent of annual electricity demand penetration rate from a combination of those two technologies, then 50 percent and beyond by combining them with other renewables and energy efficiency measures and some progressive storage solutions at a modest level.”
• In conversation with Giles Parkinson and Paul Gilding
Giles Parkinson and Paul Gilding will present their report on latest trends produced for the Tasmanian Climate Action Council and discuss the potential implications for Tasmania.
Date: Tuesday 27 May 2014
Time: 6.00 pm – 7.30 pm
Venue: Stanley Burbury Theatre, University of Tasmania Sandy Bay Campus
RSVP by: Friday 24 May 2014
RSVP to: Visit the registration website http://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-clean-energy-tipping-point-tickets-11629553307?aff=eorg or call (03) 6226 2521
Cost: This is a free event but bookings are essential for seating purposes.
