The European renewable energy sector reaches the halfway point of the year

While Germany covers 56% of its electricity demand with renewables, France surpasses 10 GW of photovoltaic capacity, and Norway announces the construction of a lithium battery factory, the European renewable energy sector shows no signs of slowing down.

News continues to emerge in the European renewable energy sector despite the impact the global coronavirus pandemic is having on the economy. June arrives brimming with “good news” regarding the implementation of renewable energies in these countries, whose commitments toreduce the impact of their economies on the climateThey require an ever-increasing investment.

The first of these news items comes from Germany, where according to data provided by theFraunhofer InstituteIn the first five months of the year, renewable energy sources have achieved a 56% share of the energy mix. Wind power accounted for 32.7% of production, solar 9.9%, bioenergy 9.8%, and hydroelectric 3.8%. This has relegated fossil fuels to less than a third of Bavaria’s electricity production and nuclear power to 12%.

Meanwhile, further north in Europe, Norway is emerging as the site for a large lithium-sulfur battery factory aimed at supporting the burgeoning electric vehicle industry. This facility, with a total capacity of 32 gigawatt-hours, would be operated by the Norwegian company Morrow Batteries, a joint venture between Graphene Batteries andAgder Energy Venturesand would be located in Adger County. The news comes after the landing ofTesla in Germanywhich would be completed by the middle of 2021, and only serves to strengthen the commitment to this type of technology on the continent.

This new factory, which aims to be one of the most environmentally friendly in the world in its sector, will not be ready until 2024 and will consist of three large production modules, of 8 GWh each, which will require a workforce of approximately 2,500 people.

France reaches 10.1 GW of photovoltaic energy

Further south, specifically in southern France, photovoltaic energy has increased its potential after installing 182 new MW, which has made the French country exceed 10 GW of photovoltaic energy by one megawatt in the first quarter of the year, representing an increase of 7% compared to the same period of the previous year.