As a renewables website, we have already seen on many occasions the potential for quality job creation offered by renewable energies. For example, the industry employs more people in the United States than gas, oil, and coal combined.
Fortunately, today there is closer and more tangible data of a market in full exponential growth, in most developed countries. How is the case Germany.
According to the German Water and Energy Association, sources such as wind and solar, they already exceed in the country the volume reached by traditional energy carriers.
According to the Association, in recent years Germany reached a production in its photovoltaic solar power plants of 22 GW of electricity per hour.
2016 was the best year for renewable energy in Germany
The goal of the federal government is to achieve a renewable generation share of 35% in 2020. A goal that following this trend will not be difficult to overcome.
Renewable production is broken down as follows:
- Offshore wind: 13 TWh, 57% more than in 2015, and what will grow in the future.
Three European countries, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, through TSO (TenneT Holland, Energetika.dk and TenneT Germany) are going to create the largest renewable integration project in history.
They call it the Silicon Valley of offshore wind. For this, these three electrical system operators are going to create an artificial island in the middle of the North Sea (Dogger Bank) from which the integration of up to 100 GW of offshore wind will be operated, which will be connected through a platform.
- Onshore wind: 67 TWh, 6% less than in 2015.
- Solar photovoltaic: 38 TWh, 1% less than in 2015.
- Hydroelectric (includes pumping): 22 TWh, 13% more than in 2015.
- Biomass and waste: 52 TWh, 3% more than in 2015.
- Geothermal: 0,2 TWh, 12% more than in 2015.
According to the president of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries, Stefan Kapferer, has commented that although the share of renewable generation continues to rise, the country still need conventional sources to support this change in the energy model. He also commented that it is necessary to expand the electrical network, something that the German Ministry of Economy also believes, who assures that "that the expansion of the is clearly lagging behind with respect to the established and necessary objectives ”.
Despite the fact that Germany is making great efforts in terms of renewables, the use of fossil fuels in the country is still very large, mainly in transportation.
