Germany Reaches 74% Renewable Energy During May Weekend  

Inhabitat has a look at Germany's increasing takeup of renewable energy - Germany Was Powered by 74% Renewable Energy Last Weekend.

According to think tank Agora Energiewende, Germany’s renewable usage set a new record on Sunday when wind, solar, biomass, and hydro energy supplied a bulk of the country’s energy. Information supplied by the group shows that the combined contribution of renewables reached 43.54 gigawatts between noon and 1 p.m. That equates to almost three quarters of the country’s demand.

Agora Energiewende has noted, however, that the inability of some baseload generators to switch themselves off meant that a record level of more than 10 gigawatts of surplus capacity at its peak was exported to neighboring markets.

Germany has always been among Europe’s leaders when it comes to solar energy, and this weekend was no exception with its output at 15.2 gigawatts at its peak. That said, the output is just half its rated peak capacity—which is more than 33 gigawatts—but then most of the northern part of the country was covered in cloud.