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There has also been a resurgence of cheap coal, considered a dirtier energy source, abetted by a market failure in the European carbon emission trade.
An oversupply in the right-to-pollute certificates has seen their price fall from an envisioned 15-18 euros per tonne of CO2 to just two to three euros -- making coal plants an economically attractive option once more.
Siemens says German energy switch on track for failure on costs
April 30, 2013 by Stefan Nicola in Bloomberg News
April 30, 2013 by Stefan Nicola in Bloomberg News
Germany is burning more coal because gas plants are not economical, subsidies for renewables are pushing up power prices, and a greater share of fluctuating renewables threaten the stability of electrical grids, Michael Suess, chief executive officer of Siemens Energy, said.
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Impact on Economy]
Germany's clean energy drive fails to curb dirty brown coal
April 26, 2013 by Vera Eckert and Christoph Steitz in Reuters
April 26, 2013 by Vera Eckert and Christoph Steitz in Reuters
Germany's green energy drive is proving surprisingly good for dirty brown coal as utilities squeezed by rival renewables and low wholesale gas prices use more of it.
The success of the turnaround is not only to be evaluated after the volume of the installed solar and wind capacity but also if the energy supply remains safe and affordable, he added.
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Europe]
That the German government is facing a massive budget shortfall for projects aimed at transforming the country into a model of alternative energy and environmental friendliness is hardly new. The European cap-and-trade system has for months been sliding into inconsequence as prices for CO2 emissions have stubbornly remained below €5 ($6.47) per ton.
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Europe]
Time of the essence for Germany's energy switch: Merkel
March 8, 2013 by Madeline Chambers in Reuters
March 8, 2013 by Madeline Chambers in Reuters
But six months before a federal election, questions remain, not least how to pay for the shift. Consumers are wary about the extent to which they will foot the bill and Merkel wants to reassure voters that she is trying to curb steep rises in power prices caused in part by subsidies for renewable energy.
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Impact on Economy]
Germany debates fracking as energy costs rise
March 1, 2013 by William Boston in Wall Street Journal
March 1, 2013 by William Boston in Wall Street Journal
Subsidies for renewable-energy producers that are financed in part through household electricity bills are causing electricity prices for ordinary consumers and industry to rise. Germany's biggest industrial power consumers have seen electricity prices per kilowatt hour rise nearly 40% in the past five years.
Is German renewable energy biting the Mittelstand hand that feeds GDP?
January 28, 2013 by Sheenagh Matthews in Bloomberg News
January 28, 2013 by Sheenagh Matthews in Bloomberg News
“The fundamental question is whether we want to push through this crazy 80 percent renewable energy share at the expense of the economy,” said Marc Tenbieg, managing director of the DMB Deutsche Mittelstands-Bund, which represents more than 14,000 small and mid-sized enterprises. “Why do we always have to be the trailblazer and show the other countries how it’s done? They are laughing their heads off.”
Germany plans to exempt 1,550 large firms from a power price surcharge that covers part of the cost of switching to renewable energy. Critics say the list of exemptions is spurious and unfair to households and small businesses. It risks undermining faith in the government's switch to clean power.
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Impact on Economy]
German Energy Agency Chief : 'We'll need conventional power plants until 2050'
December 11, 2012 in Der Spiegel
December 11, 2012 in Der Spiegel
Stephan Kohler, the head of the German Energy Agency, says the country must act smarter and more realistically in its transition to renewable energy. The "feel-good" subsidies for locally produced wind and solar power have had unintended consequences, he says, and the environmental movement is often part of the problem.
Germany hikes electricity charge to finance renewables
October 15, 2012 by Richard Carter in Yahoo News
October 15, 2012 by Richard Carter in Yahoo News
In total, the network operators hope to collect more than 20 billion euros to subsidise renewable energies. ..."The increase in this charge is manageable for many households, but there are also very poor, low-income households which could be negatively affected by this type of price rise," she said.
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Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
Germany backs charging consumers to cut offshore wind risks
August 29, 2012 by Stefan Nicola in Washington Post
August 29, 2012 by Stefan Nicola in Washington Post
The draft bill endorsed by Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet of Ministers would make power consumers pay as much as 0.25 euro cents a kilowatt-hour if wind farm owners can't sell their electricity because of delays in connecting turbines to the grid. The plan is aimed at raising investments after utilities threatened to halt projects.
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USA]
At issue is the German Renewable Energy Act, which requires power companies to buy wind and solar energy from producers at fixed prices, which are much higher than electricity produced by traditional methods such as coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. At the same time, power-hungry industries receive generous subsidies ...German consumers have to cough up the difference.
German offshore wind sector needs more than just new law: executives
August 28, 2012 by Christoph Steitz in Reuters
August 28, 2012 by Christoph Steitz in Reuters
Grid operators are reluctant to build power lines at sea because they have to pay compensation should they break down. So many wind farms could lack the means to transfer the power they are generating back to the mainland.
The government is trying to pass on those costs to power consumers to reduce the risk for investors.
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Impact on Economy]
Merkel's green shift forces Germany to burn more coal
August 20, 2012 by Stefan Nicola and Tino Andresen in Bloomberg News
August 20, 2012 by Stefan Nicola and Tino Andresen in Bloomberg News
Germany's largest utilities RWE and EON AG (EOAN) are shunning cleaner-burning natural gas because it's more costly, while the collapsing cost of carbon permits means there's little penalty for burning coal. Wind and solar projects, central to Germany's plans to reduce nuclear energy and cut the release of heat- trapping gases, can't produce electricity around the clock.
In an interview with German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, Altmaier said “with 35 percent of power from renewable sources, that still leaves 65 percent to be covered. It makes sense to replace old brown and black coal-fired plants which aren't good for the environment with modern and efficient coal and gas-fired power plants.”
German plans to cut carbon emissions with renewable energy are ambitious, but they are also risky.
Germany's revolutionary switch to renewable energies is stalling and the country's new environment minister has now admitted as much by casting doubt on the ambitious goals set last year. Media commentators say that he and the rest of Chancellor Merkel's government must do more.
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Transmission]
Germans cough up for solar subsidies
July 5, 2012 by Alexander Neubacher and Catalina Schröder in Spiegel Online
July 5, 2012 by Alexander Neubacher and Catalina Schröder in Spiegel Online
Solar subsidies cost German consumers billions of dollars a year and are widely regarded as inefficient. Even environmentalists are concerned that Berlin's focus on solar comes at the detriment of other renewables. But the solar industry has a powerful lobby, and politicians have proven powerless to resist.
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Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
Germany rejects subsidies for energy projects, says market can provide
June 5, 2012 by Beate Preuschoff and Franziska Scheven in Nasdaq
June 5, 2012 by Beate Preuschoff and Franziska Scheven in Nasdaq
Almost a year after Germany decided to shift away from nuclear power and sharply raise production from renewable sources, critics doubt that the move will go ahead as scheduled. The government has so far failed to present a plan for filling the gap in its future energy capacity, as the switch has proven more difficult than initially thought.