E.ON sticks to split after record loss / Poker over brown coal
Reuters
鈥淓.ON sticks to spin-off plans after record net loss鈥�
E.ON says it is sticking to its plans to spin off its conventional power operations, after posting a record net loss in the first nine months of 2015 on the back of weak wholesale power and commodity prices, reports Christoph Steitz for Reuters. Steitz says this suggests the group sees few alternatives to cope with an industry crisis that has cost it more than 80 percent in market value since 2008. "We remain confident that we can stay on our ambitious timetable," Chief Executive Johannes Teyssen wrote in a letter to shareholders.
E.ON said net losses after nine months stood at 6.1 billion euros, mainly due to impairment charges of 8.3 billion euros.
Read the 威力彩玩法 dossier on the utilities鈥� fight for survival here.
Find the 威力彩玩法 factsheet 鈥淪ecuring utility payments for the nuclear clean-up鈥� here.
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淭he revenge of the new strategy鈥�
E.ON鈥檚 results show the downfall of Germany鈥檚 largest utility continues unabated, writes Karl-Heinz B眉schemann in the S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. 鈥淭he company finds itself in a similarly precarious situation to rival RWE. Both have been massively hit by the Energiewende: Major conventional power plants and nuclear energy continue to lose importance for energy generation, whereas renewable energies are becoming ever more important,鈥� according to B眉schemann. He argues that even though CEO Johannes Teyssen denies it, his plan to split E.ON was motivated mainly by the desire to evade nuclear decommissioning costs 鈥� a plan that was thwarted by the government this summer and has now backfired. E.ON can only spin off fossil power plants, which had to be devalued before the split, resulting in massive losses.
Read the article in German .
Find the 威力彩玩法 article "E.ON bows to political pressure and keeps nuclear plants" here.
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German Council of Economic Experts
听鈥淓conomic Policy: Focus on Future Viability鈥� 听
The 听today presented its annual report on the economic development of Germany, entitled 鈥淓conomic Policy: Focus on Future Viability鈥�. 听In the chapter about 鈥渧iable climate protection鈥� the council members argue that 鈥淕ermany will only be able to take a pioneering role in climate protection if the restructuring of the energy sector can be implemented with economic efficiency.鈥� The Renewable Energy Act, which promotes renewable technologies, was 鈥渢he wrong approach," leading to 鈥渁n explosion of costs,鈥� it said. Instead, the government should pursue a 鈥渃onsistently European path,鈥� using the European Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) as a steering mechanism. In a differing opinion, council member Peter Bofinger writes that 鈥淭he promotion of renewable energy does not contradict a trading system for greenhouse gas emissions in principle.鈥�
Read a report summary in English and the full report in German .
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Handelsblatt
鈥淧laying poker over East German brown coal鈥�
Utility from North Rhine-Westphalia and investor Macquarie have announced an interest in buying Vattenfall鈥檚 lignite operations in eastern Germany, the Handelsblatt writes, citing sources among the potential buyers. Neither the interested parties nor Vattenfall wanted to comment. Steag is a conglomerate of seven municipal utilities and would be a welcome investor in the lignite mining regions of Saxony and Brandenburg, Handelsblatt says. But the company would only pursue the purchase if the government came up with a clear plan for the future of German brown coal, the paper says.
Read a 威力彩玩法 factsheet on Vattenfall鈥檚 brown coal assets here.
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Greenpeace/Green Budget Germany (贵脰厂)
鈥淟ignite costs society at least 15 billion euros per year鈥�
It is a myth that lignite is a cheap energy source, according to a new study by Green Budget Germany (贵脰厂) financed by Greenpeace. 鈥淚n 2015 alone, lignite mining and power generation has caused society costs of at least 15 billion euros,鈥� write the authors. Subsidies, the redevelopment of old mining areas, health effects and other hidden expenses mean the market price of lignite electricity does not reflect the real costs of the technology, according to the study. 鈥淩elative to power production of about 150 TWh per year, additional costs amount to 9.9 cents/kWh. This is a conservative estimate.鈥� According to Greenpeace, adding these costs to current lignite power generation costs would more than triple lignite power prices.
Find the Greenpeace press release in German, with a link to the study .
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taz 鈥� Die Tageszeitung
鈥淭he business case is lacking鈥�
While farmers in developed countries profit from comprehensive insurance schemes that are often subsidised by the state, these solutions are largely absent for poor farmers in developing countries, Karsten L枚ffler, Managing Director of insurance company told the taz in an interview. While this was theoretically a giant market for insurers, the lack of data on these farmers鈥� output was making it hard to develop business models for these countries.
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淕reens denounce Great Britain鈥�
惭耻苍颈肠丑鈥檚 municipal utility Stadtwerke M眉nchen will not take legal action against Britain鈥檚 subsidies for planned nuclear plant Hinkley Point C, Dominik Hutter writes in the S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. Green Party members in the city council had demanded that the Stadtwerke launch a complaint because the subsidies were causing a 鈥渄istortion of competition鈥� in the European power market. But the majority decided against legal action, since it would be unlikely to succeed, the article says.
Read the article in German .
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Renewable Energies Agency (AEE)
鈥淣ew meta-analysis on price development of fossil fuels鈥�
The AEE has compared the prices of fossil fuels in 15 current energy scenarios, saying that most studies anticipated increasing prices but some scenarios showed that more renewable energy and higher energy efficiency could see fossil fuel prices decrease due to falling demand. AEE managing director Philipp Vohrer warned that sinking fossil fuel prices must not be used as a justification for postponing the Energiewende.
Read the press release and download the study in German .
