Germany, despite its claim to be a renewable energy leader, is not currently on track to meet its 2030 climate and energy targets. This week, the nation’s new Green Minister for Economics and Climate, Robert Habeck, presented a bold new plan for expanding onshore and offshore wind power. If successful, the plan would add up to 10 gigawatts of new onshore wind capacity every year for the rest of the decade. To put that into perspective, Europe as a whole installed 11.8 gigawatts (GW) of onshore wind in 2020.

Energy Policy Germany

The community wind farm’s two GE 5.3-158 turbines were commissioned in 2021. A GE spokesman would not confirm the condition of the other turbine at the site.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

A fire in a wind turbine in a wind farm near the municipality of Sarow (Mecklenburg Lake District) near Demmin resulted in damage of around 500,000 euros. As a police spokesman said on Tuesday, the machine house in the uppermost part of the wind turbine caught fire in strong winds. Because of the height of around 100 meters, the fire fighters were only able to "let the fire burn down in a controlled manner" late on Monday evening, as the district brigade leader Enrico Kollhof explained.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

The Engel family has been fighting against the system on Kraiberg for years. She recently discovered damage to a tower. Despite the repairs, there is still no peace.

Pollution Impact on People Noise Germany

Energy giant Vattenfall wants to recycle and reuse the rotor blades from its wind turbines in the future. But what actually happens to the expensive composite parts when they no longer spin in the sky?

General Germany

Nordex has lowered its profit expectations for 2021 due to high raw materials, logistics and shipping costs. It now expects an Ebitda margin of around 1% for the full year, down from 4.0-5.5% as previously forecast.

General Germany

“Electricity is the most perishable commodity in the world,” says Kobe. At the same time it is generated, it must also be consumed. However, surplus electricity cannot be stored in the grid. One solution would be to store the electricity that is currently being generated too much. The problem: Germany does not have such storage facilities with the necessary gigantic storage capacity, and they will not be available to it in the foreseeable future. The batteries in electric cars are nowhere near enough to store electricity, quite apart from the fact that nobody will bear the costs for intermediate storage unless they are compensated for it.

Energy Policy Germany

Kay Scheller, President of the Federal Audit Office, gave this lecture at the Energy Law Conference of the Society for Legal Policy and the Association of Family Entrepreneurs on October 20, 2021 in Berlin. The issues raised in the speech are critical is assessing the rush to build more wind and renewables. Below is an English translation of the speech from the original German. The Federal Audit Office, or Bundesrechnungshof is the primary federal authority for federal audit matters in Germany. 

Energy Policy Germany

The "Ignatz" storm caused numerous problems in many regions. More than 60 incidents reported to the Aalen police headquarters - mostly from the Rems-Murr district.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

Steag GmbH – which operates six large-scale hard coal plants in Germany with an installed capacity of more than 4,000 MW – closed its Bergkamen-A plant in the western part of the country this week due to shortages of hard coal, it said by email. “We are short of hard coal,” said Daniel Muhlenfeld, a Steag spokesman. “There is a strong demand for coal per se and secondly, there is a strong demand for transport by barge. And since Bergkamen has no rail connection, there are no logistical alternatives available here.” As a result of the failure of “green” renewable sources of energy to fill the demand gap, European utilities have turned to coal due to shortages of natural gas, recently stepping in to the spot market to secure cargoes and even asking Russia for more supplies. China’s move to secure more supplies is likely to make matters worse, with Europe set to scramble to secure fuel this winter.

Energy Policy Germany

According to a statement on RAG Montan Immobilien’s website “The plant has completely collapsed, most of the components such as the wings, machine house and the upper steel element are at the base of the plant and in the adjacent forest.”  According to local news reports, the incident could be heard several kilometres away.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

According to Nordex, there are almost two dozen identical turbines in Germany or are still under construction. As a preventive measure, all 23 systems with the same configuration have been temporarily shut down nationwide, according to Nordex. This also includes a neighboring facility in Haltern. Among other things, the identical Jüchen wind farm was taken off the grid.

Safety Energy Policy Germany

The wind turbine was completely destroyed by the collapse, as a spokesman for RAG MI announced. All that remained was a 40-meter-high stump made of concrete parts. ... The twin system, which is around 450 meters away, was put out of operation for safety reasons immediately after the collapse became known. "It will not be put back into operation until the cause of the accident has been clarified." According to the municipal utilities, the wind turbine was connected to the grid when it collapsed. According to the Haltern fire brigade, it was not very windy.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

Officials in Germany are investigating why a huge wind turbine collapsed just hours before it was due to be officially inaugurated.

Safety Structural Failure Germany

A hastier phaseout of coal coupled with slow uptake of renewables and a higher rise in power demand would not only drive up electricity bills for German homes, already among the highest in Europe, but also raise the specter of frequent power outages, especially during chilly winters.

Energy Policy Germany

In total, conventional energy sources comprised 56% of the total electricity fed into Germany's grid in the first half of 2021. Coal was the leader out of the conventional energy sources, comprising over 27% of Germany's electricity. Wind power's contribution dropped significantly compared to the previous year — from 29% to 22%.

Energy Policy Germany

Depleted natural gas inventories and low wind speeds have led to a surge in electricity prices across Europe, putting pressure on governments as consumers protest against surging power bills ahead of the winter heating season.  

Energy Policy Europe Germany

Orsted (ORSTED.CO) and RWE (RWEG.DE), the world's two largest offshore wind players, both suffered from lighter winds in the first half of the year, highlighting how profits in the booming industry remain tied to weather conditions.

Offshore Wind Denmark Germany

The state government has set the goal of building 1,000 additional wind turbines. According to Environment Minister Thekla Walker (Greens), half of this should be realized via the state forest - the government itself can become active here. "As the largest forest owner, the state of Baden-Württemberg has a special responsibility to support these goals," writes Hauk. ForstBW is responsible for the management of over 300,000 hectares of state forest. According to ForstBW, almost 40 percent of the country's area consists of forest.

Impact on Landscape Energy Policy Germany

Germany intends to become climate-neutral. The big questions is just how much wind and solar power that will require. But it's difficult to figure out how much power the country will actually need in the next decade.

Energy Policy Germany