Germany set a world record for solar power production on Saturday, generating nearly 50 percent of the nation’s midday electricity demand.
The Guardian reports that German solar power plants on Friday and Saturday produced 22 gigawatts of renewable energy per hour. That’s up from 14 gigawatts this time last year, Reuters reports.
Norbert Allnoch, director of a renewable energy think tank in Muenster, said that was enough power to meet a third of the country’s electricity demand on Friday and nearly half on Saturday, when factories were closed.
“Never before anywhere has a country produced as much photovoltaic electricity,” Allnoch told Reuters. “Germany came close to the 20 gigawatt mark a few times in recent weeks. But this was the first time we made it over.”
The 22 gigawatts of solar energy generated over the weekend is equivalent to 20 nuclear power plants operating at full capacity, the think tank said.
The German government rejected nuclear power after the nuclear disaster last year in Fukushima, Japan. The government shuttered eight plants immediately and pledged to close the remaining nine by 2022, according to Reuters.
Germany’s nuclear power stations will be replaced by wind and solar power among other renewable energy sources.
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