Once again Germany is in the record books for their renewable energy production. On Sunday 11th May 14, the country had generated over 74% of the country’s electricity needs by midday. It has also been said that because Germany has huge amounts of solar and wind power capacity, the price of their electricity actually dipped into the negatives for most of that afternoon!

Germany has also had a record high first quarter with better weather enabling them to reach 27% electricity demand from renewables. As we have seen in the past, Germany is hitting record after record and it is likely they will continue to do so. They have the goal of reaching 80% renewables by 2050. As they say, they are in the middle of an energy transformation or “Energiewende.”

“Don’t forget what Germany is doing right now. It’s changing its power supply,” Paul Hockenos, a Berlin-based energy expert and journalist, told Voice of America earlier this year. “The last time when an energy supply was changed was the industrial revolution; this is something that has never been done before.”

According to the Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and Energy Transition, Germany is pushing their energy transformation for five main reasons.

1. For future generations – so that they will have the ability to choose renewable energy whenever it is technologically and economically possible.
2. To become a global leader
3. Reduce dependence on imports – Germany imports 97% of its oil, 90% of its natural gas and two-thirds of its hard coal.
4. Tap into the clean energy potential – create jobs and GDP
5. Provide greater public participation in the energy sector.

If the past is anything to go by, it won’t be long before we hear about more renewable energy records coming out of Germany.