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

In the first half of 2021, renewable energies covered around 43 percent of gross domestic electricity consumption. ...There was a slight increase of around two percent compared to the same period in the previous year in electricity generation from photovoltaic systems, while generation from wind energy (on land and at sea) fell by around 20 percent.

General Germany

In order to give new impetus to wind energy, the conditions for expansion must be relaxed in Germany. Economics Minister Peter Altmaier has spoken out in favor of a simpler and faster procedure for the approval of wind turbines. There is a need for faster procedures and other rules in terms of nature conservation, he says to the «Wirtschaftswoche». In the future, permits should be granted within one year whenever possible. In addition, it is not individual animals that need to be protected from the rotors, according to Altmaier, but only animal species as a whole. Otherwise the energy transition will not succeed.

Impact on Landscape Energy Policy Europe Germany

London-listed TRIG said that routine inspections had identified signs of stress fatigue on certain areas of the support structure of the helihoist on some of the 6MW wind turbines manufactured by GE. “Generation at the wind farm was paused as a precautionary safety measure whilst the root cause of the issue is being investigated,” TRIG said in a statement. 

Safety Structural Failure Germany

In the Free State of Bavaria there is almost nothing going on when it comes to wind power. According to a report by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, the expansion has been almost zero for several years. The share of wind energy in electricity production is now even declining. "Wind power is dead in Bavaria" "complained the Green politician Martin Stümpfig.

Energy Policy Germany

The social consequences of expanding the ETS means the upcoming reform is already proving to be one of the most sensitive and contested parts of the EU’s radical decarbonisation agenda. Claude Turmes, Luxembourg’s environment minister, says his government will oppose any extension to cover cars and buildings because it “risks penalising lower income parts of the population”. At a summit in Brussels in May, EU leaders from poorer eastern countries also warned that their citizens — many of whom cannot easily afford to ditch their diesel-powered cars or switch heating systems in rented accommodation — will suffer the ill-effects.

Impact on People Energy Policy Europe Germany

The German government’s latest attempt to attract investment in onshore wind farms fell flat, according to the results of tenders for renewables published on Friday (30 April), marking another episode in a series of undersubscribed tenders for wind power.

Energy Policy Germany

Rather, the new cost driver on consumers' electricity bills is network charges. In the course of the energy transition, network operators have to build reserve power plants and keep them operational, compensate market participants for line bottlenecks and erect thousands of kilometers of extra-high voltage lines. The West German electricity network operator Amprion has just doubled its investment volume for the next ten years to 24 billion euros. "The increased network usage charges and the increase in value added tax have led to this noticeable burden," says Lasse Schmid, Managing Director Energy at Check24: "The minimal reduction in the EEG surcharge cannot compensate for that."

Energy Policy Germany

The assumptions of the Ministry of Economic Affairs regarding security of supply for electricity are "partly too optimistic and partly implausible", criticize the auditors. The ministry also did not examine a scenario in which several foreseeable factors coincide that could jeopardize security of supply. So it could be that the network expansion is delayed and at the same time the cross-border transmission capacity is restricted. The Federal Ministry of Economics argues that “a stacking of various disadvantageous scenarios is not sensible according to the state of the technical discussion”. However, the examiners found this objection “not convincing”. Further uncertainties would arise from the increasing demand for electricity for the electrification of transport and for the production of the energy carrier hydrogen in electrolysis plants. The auditors therefore do not share the assumption of the federal government that electricity demand will remain more or less stable until 2030.

Energy Policy Germany

Given the situation, we see this as a one-off impact and RWE may try to recoup losses from insurance,” the analysts wrote in a note. RWE said part of its onshore wind fleet in Texas had been partly out of service from Feb. 9 because of icing and grid issues that have dealt a major blow to the second-largest U.S. state.

General Germany Texas

"The judgment does not help us as an industry," said Wolfram Axthelm managing director of the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) to the Handelsblatt. The challenge remains of balancing the protection of the individual birds and the protection of the population. The ball is now with the legislature in Germany. "The Environment Ministers' Conference has taken up the topic and must now come to results as quickly as possible," said Axthelm.

Impact on Wildlife Impact on Birds Legal Germany

Citing calculations from the shopping portal Check24, the total amount paid was about 900 million euros more than in 2019. One reason was the high consumption due to home office use. But the primary reason was because of the rising cost of green electricity.

Taxes & Subsidies Germany

According to figures from the Federal Network Agency in 2020, they accounted for more than three quarters of the electricity bills of private households. According to the EU statistical office Eurostat, Germany, along with Denmark and Belgium, has the highest electricity prices for household customers. ...Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier from the CDU wants to relieve consumers and the economy of electricity prices with a system change in the promotion of green electricity.

Taxes & Subsidies Germany

Large amounts of intermittent electricity create huge swings in supply which the grid has to be able to cope with. The issue isn’t confined to Europe. Australia has had teething problems in the transition to a cleaner network. Wind power was blamed for a blackout in 2016 that cut supply to 850,000 homes. The nation is looking to storage as a solution and was the first country to install a 100 megawatt megabattery in 2017.

Energy Policy Europe Germany

The verdict of the highest Hessian administrative court represents a setback for the Green Ministers Tarek Al-Wazir (economy) and Priska Hinz (environment), who urged the faster expansion of wind energy. They tried to lower the species protections in order to allow for the expansion of wind power under a decree that came into force two weeks ago.

Impact on Birds Germany

The generation of energy has priority over species protection, according to an administrative regulation that Economy Minister Tarek Al-Wazir and Environment Minister Priska Hinz jointly launched at the beginning of the year. The Hessian Administrative Court has now soberly ruled that the decree has "no binding effect on the courts".

Impact on Birds Germany

Providing areas for onshore wind and permitting will continue to hamper Germany’s energy transition despite some improvements achieved in the recent amendment of the country’s Renewable Energies Act (EEG), wind energy federation BWE said in an analysis.

Energy Policy Germany