Renewable energy supplied over 20% of electricity used in Germany in the first six months of this year, and the country continues to export more energy than it imports despite eliminating its nuclear industry.
Germany decided to stop using nuclear energy after the Fukushima disaster in Japan. The incident in March saw meltdowns at a nuclear plant following an earthquake and tsunami, and it was after this that Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that the country would exit its nuclear programme.
Seven of the county’s oldest plants were closed immediately, with the remaining 10 plants to be closed by 2022. Germany had been relying on nuclear power for a third of its energy but the shutdown of the plants saw no increase in energy imports due to the country’s strong renewable energy programme.
A number of incentives are offered in Germany to encourage both homeowners and businesses to install renewable energy equipment, and this has helped the country become one of the world’s biggest users of renewable energy. Most of the renewable energy comes from wind power, biomass technologies and photovoltaic solar panels.
In the UK, the government is now starting to introduce a number of similar incentives to encourage the growth of renewable energy. This includes the Feed in Tariffs scheme which allows any unused electricity to be sold back to the Grid and the Renewable Heat Incentive, which is due to be opened up to homeowners next autumn.
Installing renewable energy systems on your home is not as expensive as you may expect when you use Enerfina. As an independent advisor, they can help you find the ideal renewable energy source for your requirement as well as offering discounted prices on the installation of equipment such as solar thermal panels, biomass boilers and heat pumps, so contact them today to see how they can help you save money on your heating costs!