News
Category:
Germany
Germany must shield its consumers from paying too much of the cost of its ambitious switch from nuclear power and fossil fuels towards renewable energy, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.
The IEA also said that Germany, with Europe's biggest economy, should make greater use of natural gas to smoothe the transition.
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.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
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.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy|
Energy Policy]
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.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
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.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Europe]
Merkel's no-nuke stumble may erode re-election support
April 11, 2013 by Stefan Nicola in Bloomberg News
April 11, 2013 by Stefan Nicola in Bloomberg News
Merkel's main opponent in the election, Peer Steinbrueck of the Social Democratic Party, is capitalizing on discontent with the energy switch. In December, he said at an SPD summit that Germans now live in fear of power outages because of government missteps. One month later, the SPD beat Merkel's CDU in a vote in Lower Saxony -- the third straight regional defeat for the incumbent party and a sign that its lead in the national election may be eroding.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy|
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
Merkel Losing Allies in $700 Billion Shift to Renewables
April 5, 2013 by Stefan Nicola & Tino Andresen in Bloomberg News
April 5, 2013 by Stefan Nicola & Tino Andresen in Bloomberg News
With consumer power bills increasing and Merkel facing elections in September, Germany's energy policy is rising on the political agenda. The cost of developing wind farms in the North Sea has surged following construction glitches and delays in linking turbines to the grid.
"The entire energy switch has derailed," Marc Nettelbeck, an analyst at DZ Bank AG, said this week by phone from Frankfurt. "The difficulties connecting offshore wind farms to the power grid reduces their profitability and renders the original investment calculations of utilities invalid."
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy|
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
German energy company hits headwinds in India
March 24, 2013 by Jack Ewing and Vikas Bajaj in New York Times
March 24, 2013 by Jack Ewing and Vikas Bajaj in New York Times
With Japan’s crisis raising new questions about nuclear power, this might seem an ideal time for a company that is a global leader in alternative energy and has a big presence in an energy-starved country, India.
But for Enercon of Germany, one of the world’s biggest makers of wind turbines, India is shaping up as a disaster.
Also filed under [
General|
Zoning/Planning]
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.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Europe]
The Price of Green Energy: Is Germany killing the environment to save it?
March 12, 2013 by Markus Dettmer, Peter Müller and Cornelia Schmergal in Der Spiegel
March 12, 2013 by Markus Dettmer, Peter Müller and Cornelia Schmergal in Der Spiegel
The German government is carrying out a rapid expansion of renewable energies like wind, solar and biogas, yet the process is taking a toll on nature conservation. The issue is causing a rift in the environmental movement, pitting "green energy" supporters against ecologists.
Also filed under [
Impact on Landscape]
Like its rivals Repower and Vestas, Nordex had been suffering from overcapacities and sinking prices in the sector. Nonetheless, it gave a positive outlook for this year, saying 2013 revenues could reach between 1.2 and 1.3 billion euros on the back of record orders.
Also filed under [
General]
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.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy|
Energy Policy]
Windreich offices searched after anonymous complaint
March 8, 2013 by Sara Knight in Windpower Offshore,
March 8, 2013 by Sara Knight in Windpower Offshore,
An anonymous complaint about Windreich's financial management prompted Stuttgart public prosecutors to search the company's premises yesterday. German press reports claim that allegations focus on manipulation of the company's balance sheet and fraud, amongst other issues.
Also filed under [
Offshore Wind]
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.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy]
"The construction work is very noise intensive," Otto von Estorff, from the Technical University Hamburg-Harburg told the paper. "The particularly conductive quality of the water means the noise can be clearly heard for several kilometres."
He and his research team have measured around 200 decibels at the construction site.
Also filed under [
General]
BMW adds wind power to sidestep Merkel's power bill
February 21, 2013 by Stefan Nicola in Bloomberg News
February 21, 2013 by Stefan Nicola in Bloomberg News
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
German 'green revolution' may cost 1 trillion euros - minister
February 20, 2013 by Alexandra Hudson and Markus Wacket in Reuters
February 20, 2013 by Alexandra Hudson and Markus Wacket in Reuters
Germany's transition to renewable energy may cost up to 1 trillion euros ($1.34 trillion) in the next two decades, the environment minister said on Wednesday, piling pressure on his opponents to back plans to cap power price rises before the election.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy]
German government looks to slash renewables funding
February 15, 2013 by Sara Knight in Windpower Monthly
February 15, 2013 by Sara Knight in Windpower Monthly
A joint proposal to cut the costs of increasing Germany's renewable energy capacity has been presented by the federal economy and environment ministers.
If the measures are implemented, renewable energy association BEE fears a massive market collapse for investment in renewables.
Also filed under [
Tax Breaks & Subsidies]
Opponents of wind farms in the US and Canada insist that low-frequency noise generated by turbines is detrimental to human health. But in Germany, experts aren't convinced that infranoise poses a threat.
Also filed under [
Noise]
But despite the increase in the number of units, the amount of electricity they contributed to the grid merely remained stable. According to Sylvia Pilarsky-Grosch, vice president of the German Wind Energy Association, "We didn't produce more electricity in 2012 with wind energy than we did in 2011." And one of the reasons for that was that there simply wasn't enough wind.
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