Government "doesn't care about climate" - op-ed / Power grid progress
Die Welt
The energy transition and climate protection are not among the new government鈥檚 priorities, and it would be more honest to give up on聽Germany鈥檚 climate targets聽altogether, writes Daniel Wetzel in a commentary in Die Welt. The energy transition urgently requires a fundamental policy shift in order to extend the use of renewable power in transport and heating. But 鈥減oliticians are not prepared for a bold plan with historic dimensions鈥� needed to at least reach聽2030 targets, writes Wetzel. 鈥淭he new government has 45 billion euros at its disposal, and less than one billion will be spent on the energy transition and climate protection. Defence spending, new social goodies 鈥� everything is more important until the next world climate conference, where new speeches on the alleged urgency of climate protection will be held.鈥� Wetzel argues that national solo attempts to limit climate change are futile, and that 鈥渁n extension and intensification of the EU鈥檚 successful emissions trading is climate protection鈥檚 only hope鈥�.
Read the commentary in German聽.
Find background in the article聽New government gets little credit in quest to regain climate lead.
Federal Network Agency (BNetzA)
The planning procedures for Germany鈥檚 transmission power grid expansion, including the two large direct-current power lines between the North and South of the country (SuedLink and SuedOstLink), have seen 鈥渄istinct progress鈥� in 2017, the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur BNetzA) says in its new annual report. However, the expansion of the grid was not happening at the same pace as the growth in renewable installations, which made grid stability measures (re-dispatch) necessary at times of peak renewables production, the agency said. Costs for re-dispatch and other stabilising measures were over 1.2 billion euros in 2017.
Find the annual report in German聽.
For an in-depth analysis of the German grid expansion issue see here.
威力彩玩法
Germany鈥檚 coalition parties, Chancellor Angela Merkel鈥檚 conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democrats (SPD), have not been able to agree on the changes they want to introduce to the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) concerning additional tenders to faster increase the share of renewables in power consumption. The cabinet has postponed today鈥檚 decision on the so called 100-day law that was to provide a聽quick fix of the auction system for wind installations聽and reform regulations for combined heat-and-power plants (CHP) before the summer break. The energy ministry聽聽on Tuesday, making sure that the changes to the CHP law would be compliant with the union's competition rules, which both ruling parties deemed a success. But with regard to additional renewables auctions, the two ministries involved - the SPD-led environment ministry and the聽CDU-led energy ministry聽- have not been able to find a compromise, sources told the 威力彩玩法. The SPD鈥檚 coordinator for energy policy in the Bundestag, Johann Saathoff, said that energy minister Peter Altmaier had to include the additional auctions which are embedded in the coalition treaty in the EEG reform now. If he did, the reform could happen before the summer break. NGOs and Green Party politicians had聽聽for failing to include the extra auctions in the draft, saying that they were already falling behind the coalition treaty and threatened Germany鈥檚 emission reduction targets.
Read a 威力彩玩法 dossier on the Renewable Energy Act聽here.
Read a 威力彩玩法 dossier on onshore wind 辫辞飞别谤听here.
Spiegel
罢丑别听聽for a potential new illegal emissions device is proof of the brazen abuse of clients鈥� trust by carmakers, writes Gerald Traufetter in a commentary on Spiegel Online. BMW, Mercedes, and VW have used their lobbying machinery to prevent costly hardware retrofits for diesel cars, and have found an ally in new transport minister Andreas Scheuer. But the new manipulations are a stab in Scheuer鈥檚 back, writes Traufetter. 鈥淲hen will government finally put an end to being messed about by the car industry?鈥�
Read the commentary in German聽.
Find background in the portrait聽Germany鈥檚 car-loving transport minister faces clean mobility challenge.
Reuters
Chancellor Angela Merkel has signalled that she believes the chances were increasing of German carmakers building up battery production for electric cars in Europe, reports Gernot Heller for Reuters.聽鈥淚鈥檓 detecting a certain rethink among carmakers,鈥� Merkel said at an event in Berlin. She added it might still be possible to 鈥渁chieve something鈥� in Europe in this field but added that businesses would need to be willing.
Read the article in English聽.
Find plenty of background in the dossier聽BMW, Daimler, and VW vow to fight in green transport revolution.
The largely state-owned German energy company EnBW says it has achieved 鈥渁 financial turnaround鈥� in 2017, posting a profit of 2.1 billion euros in the fiscal year. At EnBW鈥檚 general meeting, CEO Frank Mastiaux said the turnaround was 鈥渁 key milestone in our company鈥檚 transformation鈥� towards renewable energies and customer solutions, according to a company press release.
, a prominent business initiative calling for ambitious climate policies.
Read the press release in English聽.
Find background in the dossier聽Utilities and the energy transition.
