Lignite extension plans cut back / New building energy law stalled
威力彩玩法 / LEAG
In a far-reaching decision, eastern German energy company and operator of one of the country鈥檚 largest lignite mining operations scrapped plans by former owner Vattenfall to expand one of its lignite mines, and downsizing or putting on hold other development plans. While politicians and the industry said the company鈥檚 medium-term plans for the region still provided stability, other observes said the decision was the 鈥渂eginning of the end鈥� of lignite in Lusatia and Germany. LEAG鈥檚 move comes as a relief for those villagers who would have had to relocate.
Find LEAG's press release in German .
Find background information in 威力彩玩法's factsheet When will Germany finally ditch coal?
The 威力彩玩法 will publish an article on this topic later today.
Der Tagesspiegel
The government coalition of the conservative CDU/CSU and Social Democrats (SPD) has failed to agree on a law (GEG) that would set new energy efficiency standards for Germany鈥檚 buildings by 2019, Jens Tartler writes in Der Tagesspiegel. Social-Democrat Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks said the conservatives deliberately let negotiations on the GEG fail, giving up on an opportunity for Germany to serve as a role model on integrating climate protection into the construction of public buildings, Tartler writes. The CDU/CSU argued that the proposed efficiency standards were聽too ambitious and disproportionate to the impact they would have on climate protection.
Read the article in German .
The German Energy agency (dena) says it regrets that the government failed to reach a compromise on the GEG, a bill that would have modernised energy efficiency standards for German buildings. In a press release, dena head Andreas Kuhlmann called the coalition鈥檚 disagreement "a severe setback for energy transition in the heating sector鈥� which showed politicians lacked understanding of the heating sector鈥檚 importance聽to the energy transition. The law would not only have brought standards in line with EU regulation, but also given the construction sector better planning security, Kuhlmann said.
Find the dena press release in German
See the 威力彩玩法 article State Secretary sees efficient sector-coupling gaining ground post-election for more information.
The Federation of German Industries (BDI) called the government's failure to reach a compromise on the GEG, a bill that would have modernised energy efficiency standards for German buildings, a 鈥渨aste of precious time for consumers and investors.鈥� In a press release, BDI board member Holger L枚sch said聽investments in efficient retrofitting of buildings had declined by 8 percent in the past five years, while building stock kept expanding. He said regulations should be聽simplified聽and fiscal support schemes defined following the federal elections in September, and detailed a 鈥溾�� of measures the next government should take.
Find the BDI press release in German .
Green Party energy spokesperson Julia Verlinden told journalists the conservatives鈥� blocking of 鈥渆ven the smallest progress鈥� in the heating sector would be 鈥渇atal鈥� for climate protection. Verlinden's statement was made in light of the government's failure to reach a compromise on the GEG, a bill that would have modernised energy efficiency standards for German buildings.
Find the press release in German .
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The environment ministry of the federal state of Hesse has issued a licence to energy company RWE to dismantle the decommissioned nuclear plant Biblis near Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports online. 鈥淣uclear energy is now a thing of the past in Hesse,鈥� the state鈥檚 environment minister Priska Hinz (Green Party) said in the article, adding that the nuclear exit was now 鈥渋rrevocable.鈥� Operator RWE said it was 鈥渨ell prepared鈥� for the plant鈥檚 dismantling and planned to finish deconstruction within 15 years, the article says.
Read the article in German .
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 dossier The challenges of Germany鈥檚 nuclear phase-out.
dpa / Die Welt / Nordex
Wind turbine manufacturer Nordex聽achieved its 2016 business targets聽despite an increasingly difficult market environment, news agency dpa reports in an article carried by Die Welt. But the company聽warned investors of a 鈥渄isappointing outlook.鈥澛燚espite a revenues increase of 40 percent last year - to 3.4 billion euros - CEO Jose Luis Blanco told investors energy policy development in important markets was 鈥渢oo unreliable鈥� to allow for a meaningful assessment of business perspectives, the article says. Blanco cited tenders implemented behind schedule听补苍诲听political pressure on support schemes.
Read the article in German .
Find a press statement by Nordex in English .
DB Research
Getting the energy transition on track has been a difficult task with many setbacks, but conditions for 鈥渁 second wave of Energiewende are pretty favourable,鈥� Martin Brough writes in a new issue of Deutsche Bank Research鈥檚 magazine Konzept under the title 鈥淒eCAF 鈥� how to invest in a post-carbon world.鈥�
"Consumers, corporates, utilities, debt markets, equity markets and technology drivers are all ready to push for a greener future,鈥� Brough says. Being an early mover on green energy, Germany now has 鈥渢he opportunity to reap the rewards鈥� of energy transition. 鈥淩eforming pricing in power, carbon, transport and heat can allow markets to deliver a sustainable future, and provide a showcase for Europe and the world,鈥� Brough adds.聽
Find the magazine in English .
See the 威力彩玩法 dossier The energy transition鈥檚 effect on jobs and business for background.
Tagesspiegel/Bosch/ZF Friedrichshafen
The world鈥檚 largest car manufacturing supplier, , plans to create more than 20,000 jobs worldwide this year to meet the demand created by digitalisation and e-mobility, the Tagesspiegel reports. The group currently has 390,000 employees, some 250,000 outside Germany. Germany's third largest supplier of car parts,聽, meanwhile is also making changes. 鈥淶F is grasping the opportunity of transforming itself into a leading technology company in e-mobility and autonomous driving,鈥� the Tagesspiegel quotes ZF head Stefan Sommer.
Read more on the challenges the industry faces in the 威力彩玩法 dossier BMW, Daimler, and VW vow to fight in green transport revolution.
Find the Bosch press release and the release here.
Handelsblatt Online
Paying extra聽for 鈥済reen power鈥� might help consumers' conscience but does little to advance energy transition, J眉rgen Flauger writes on Handelsblatt Online. 鈥淭he Energiewende鈥檚 success is determined in energy generation,鈥� Flauger explains. Green power providers usually sourced additional renewable electricity from old hydropower plants instead of new solar or wind power installations, he says. 鈥淚f one consumer receives their electricity from existing plants, another one will simply get a greater share of coal and nuclear power,鈥� Flauger argues. Renewables growth is funded with a surcharge paid by all consumers聽and buying from green power providers has no impact on the energy mix, he says.
Read the article in German .
Read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet What German households pay for power for more information.
WirtschafsWoche
The German government鈥檚 trademark Energiewende policy has failed, write Angela Hennersdorf, Niklas Hoyer, Andreas Macho and Dieter Schnaas in a feature article for business weekly WirtschaftsWoche. Despite ongoing high public support for the project, electricity is now politically charged and too expensive, and the country will fail to meet its climate goals, they say. In particular, the support system of renewables should be changed, as an array of reform proposals shows, they write.
Find the WirtschaftsWoche article (behind paywall).
Read a 威力彩玩法 article on the debate on financing renewables.
Die Zeit
Concerns over global warming are more and more pressing, yet the German party that addresses them most consistently struggle to maintain a solid voter base, Matthias Geis writes in weekly newspaper Die Zeit. Not only did the Green Party fail to enter聽the Saarland state parliament in recent elections, it is also polling very modestly in the far bigger state of North Rhine-Westphalia - where elections will take place in May - as well as at the federal level. The Greens were reluctantly on track to consider a coalition with the conservative CDU/CSU following the federal election in September, Geis writes. But since the Social Democrats adopted Martin Schulz as candidate for chancellor聽and their polling improved, the Green's situation has suffered, he explains. They must now decide which party they would prefer as a partner to make a plausible case for how to implement "their far-reaching ideas for change,鈥� Geis says.
See the 威力彩玩法 factsheet The Green Party鈥檚 draft election programme 鈥� a first look and the 威力彩玩法 dossier Vote2017 鈥� German elections and the Energiewende for background.
