Renewable energy usage will rise further in Germany this year after reaching its highest ever level in 2006, the BEE renewable energy association said on Thursday. Renewable energy sources accounted for 7.7 percent of total energy consumption in Europe's biggest economy last year, up from the 2005 level of 6.8 percent, the group said. That equates to supplies of about 200 billion kilowatt hours, or the power, heating and fuel consumption of 10 million households, the BEE said.

"We expect growth to continue in 2007, with a particularly strong increase in renewable electricity," Milan Nitzschke, head of the BEE, told Reuters. In 2006, consumption of electricity alone from renewable sources, including solar and wind power, rose about 11 percent to 71.5 billion kilowatt hours, accounting for 11.6 percent of Germany's power market. Nitzschke said Germany was seeing the strongest growth in renewable energy consumption in Europe, although Austria and Scandinavian countries were ahead in terms of the proportion of overall energy used.
(Planet Ark, 05/01/2007)