Government 'wants to kill wind engine' / Grid fees drive costs
Die Welt
鈥淕overnment wants to kill the engine鈥�
Onshore wind power is the backbone of 骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 energy transition, but government reform plans for the Renewable Energy Act risk slowing down its development too much, warns Georg M眉ller, CEO of utility MVV Energie. 鈥淭he government wants to slow development 鈥� and risks killing the engine that has started to run smoothly,鈥� M眉ller told Die Welt. He argues that onshore wind is by far the cheapest source of听renewable power, with costs of 6 to 9 cents per kWh. M眉ller says it does not make sense to speed up offshore development instead, which costs upwards of 13 cents. He argues the current target听of 2.5 GW of additional听onshore听capacity per year听should be preserved. 鈥淭his would mean the 2025 target for the share of renewables can and must be lifted to 55 percent 鈥� instead of the current 45 percent.鈥�
Read a 威力彩玩法 factsheet on the EEG reform proposal here.
Find an overview of reactions to the proposals here.
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Handelsblatt
鈥淲ind energy in Germany: Small ones get left behind鈥�
The government鈥檚 proposals to reform of the Renewable Energy Act are likely to cause a collapse in construction in 2017, because developers will rush to finish their projects this year, Dirk Briese, head of market research company Windresearch, told Handelsblatt. 鈥淪maller actors will be pushed out of the market by increased competition,鈥� according to Briese, who says the auction process is too complicated for many energy cooperatives. Author Franz Hubik concludes: 鈥淚f it鈥檚 true that only large developers and operators of wind parks survive, the government would have clearly missed one of its central goals for the Energiewende: To preserve the diversity of players.鈥�
Read the article in German .
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BNE / VZBV / LichtBlick
鈥淕rid fees are the new cost drivers鈥�
The Association of Energy Market Innovators (BNE), consumer organisation VZBV and power provider LichtBlick have issued a joint call for more transparency in the calculation of grid fees, to prevent a further rise in household power prices. 鈥淚nstead of the well-known renewable surcharge, grid fees are the new cost drivers for power prices,鈥� Gero L眉cking of LichtBlick said. A poll by LichtBlick and BNE found that most households were unaware of the high grid fees. Only one in six respondents had a rough idea of the fee's size (an average household pays around 240 euros per year), while a majority thought it was much lower. Only one in four knew that grid fees are now higher than the renewable surcharge. The three organisations blamed the high fees on the fragmented structure of over 800 distribution grid operators (who are monopolies in their regions) and an intransparent calculation system.
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Handelsblatt
鈥淎n update for the economy鈥�
骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 energy prices are among the highest in Europe and damage competitiveness, argues Christian Lindner, head of the business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP), in an op-ed in Handelsblatt. 鈥淎 German update is overdue. Firstly, we need a trend reversal in energy policy. Climate protection is necessary, but not as a solo听German attempt,鈥� argues Lindner. 鈥淭his is why we want to lower the climate targets to the EU level.鈥� He says the Renewable Energy Act does not require reform, but should instead be abolished. The FDP has currently no seats in the national parliament, but might play a role in some upcoming regional elections.
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Politico
鈥淕ermany's weak hand in car emissions dispute鈥�
Germany has lobbied successfully at the EU level to protect the interests of its carmakers for decades, but the VW emissions scandal has made it more difficult, write Sara Stefanini and Kalina Oroschakoff for Politico. Until last year, 鈥淏erlin鈥檚 growl was enough to get the EU to quickly back away from measures that could affect German industry,鈥� write the authors. 鈥淚n a sign of the shifting political landscape, German industry appeared resigned Wednesday to a听European Commission proposal that seeks to recalibrate the balance of power between Europe鈥檚 regulators and the Continent鈥檚 powerful automakers.鈥�
Read the article in English .
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pv magazine
First large-scale solar array from pilot auction completed
The first large scale solar array to come out of 骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 new auction process has been connected to the grid, reports pv magazine. British developer Solarentury said it built the 4.7 MW听solar park in the east German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The project is a result of the first round of auctions which took place in April 2015.
Find the article in German.
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Handelsblatt
鈥淭he boss of grids鈥�
Hildegard M眉ller, former chairwoman at the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), who has been hired by RWE, will be in charge of the troubled utility鈥檚 grids, reports Klaus Stratmann in Handelsblatt. Before joining the BDEW, M眉ller was a member of parliament for the Christian Democrats and an advisor to Angela Merkel. Previous press reports had said M眉ller would head the renewables division.
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Die Zeit
鈥淚 am small and insignificant鈥�
Multi-millionaire Michael Otto, executive chairman of mail/online retail company Otto Group and co-founder of business climate action initiative Stiftung 2 Grad, has done much over the last decades to make his business more efficient and reduce CO2 emissions, he tells Die Zeit in an interview. Following the Paris climate agreement, the German government should now work on a concrete decarbonisation strategy with mile stones for a a planned phase-out of fossil fuels in 2030, 2040 and 2050, Otto says. The worst thing for businesses is the back-and-forth of politics, he argues - companies needed planning security. Otto Group and other businesses in the Stiftung 2 Grad are calling for reform of the EU emissions trading system and a green transition in the transport sector.
