Germany hits 50,000 megawatts of wind power
Germany has declared that it has generated over 50,000 megawatts of electricity from wind, as the European continent tries to diversify its energy sources in the face of gas wean from Russia.
Reports by agency sources quoted that data from the European Energy Exchange (EEX) that Germany’s wind farms produced 50,232 megawatts as much of Europe is experiencing unusually mild winter temperatures.
The new generation level is an improvement from the 46,500 megawatts in the past year, according to EEX.
Multiple cities in Europe, including Berlin and Warsaw, are experiencing their warmest starts of the year ever, Bloomberg reported.
The record electricity comes as Europe faces an energy crisis, largely fueled by Russia cutting off its access to natural gas as the war in Ukraine has continued.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak indicated in an interview with state-run media outlet TASS late last month that Russia is prepared to resume gas sales to Europe. The Kremlin cut off the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in an effort to put pressure on the rest of Europe to stop supporting Ukraine in the war.
But support for Ukraine throughout Europe has remained largely steady, and members of the European Union have taken steps to try to lessen their reliance on Russian gas.
The International Energy Agency has warned that this year could be a “sterner test” for Europe to handle the energy situation than last year, as mild temperatures will not persist indefinitely and global stockpiles may dwindle.