Germany could save around €570 billion (£460.2 billion) by 2050 if it sticks to its plans of replacing nuclear with renewable sources.

That’s according to researchers at the Renewable Energy Research Association, whose claim follows the nation’s plan to shut all its nuclear reactors within the next decade in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster last year.

Investments in renewable energy in Germany in 2011 amounted to around €23 billion (£18.6 billion) which created 380,000 jobs. The researchers said: “The investments made now, at the beginning, will pay off within a foreseeable time frame and have a positive economic impact.”

Earlier this year Germany’s national infrastructure bank said it would provide €100billion (£78.6 billion) for renewables and energy efficient projects in the next five years.

The country gets about a quarter of its power from renewable energy totalling 70GW, which includes around 30GW from wind, 5.5GW from biomass and 4.4GW from hydroelectric plants. Germany aims to generate 35% of its power from renewable sources by 2020 and 80% by 2050.