In the media: "Don't buckle!", WWF tells government on lignite
Der Spiegel
鈥淓nergy transition causes controversy between chancellor and state premiers鈥�
An alliance of three state premiers have informed Chancellor Angela Merkel about their concerns about a new 鈥�climate contribution鈥� payable as a levy by the most CO2 intensive fossil power plants if they exceed a certain emission limit, Der Spiegel reports. The heads of Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony fear for jobs in the lignite sector if the emission payment was introduced. But according to Der Spiegel, Merkel said that 鈥渙ne has to find ways to comply with the climate protection targets鈥�. She doesn鈥檛 want to seem idle when it comes to pursuing Germany鈥檚 aim of cutting CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2020 鈥� not in the year of the G7 summit in Germany and the UN climate conference, the article says.
See a 威力彩玩法 article on the climate contribution debate here.
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Rheinische Post
鈥淐limate levy on lignite will be softened鈥�
The climate levy as proposed by the Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), will not have 鈥渢he feared impact on coal mining regions鈥�, the economy minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Garrelt Duin told the Rheinische Post after a meeting between state ministers and federal energy minister Sigmar Gabriel. Gabriel would be open to other suggestions as to how Germany鈥檚 climate targets could be reached, Duin told the paper.
See the article in German .
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鈥淩educing power production from lignite would hardly affect power prices鈥�
A background paper by consultancy Enervis, commissioned by think-tank Agora Energiewende*, shows that mothballing old coal power stations with a total capacity of 10 gigawatt would lead to a price increase of around 0.4 cent per kilowatt-hour. Limiting CO2 emissions from fossil power plants 鈥� as has been suggested with the climate levy proposal from the BMWi 鈥� would mostly effect lignite power stations that are more than 40 years old in 2020, the Agora paper found. Limiting their production would reduce Germany鈥檚 (recently rising) power exports from lignite-fired plants which would see gas-fired stations for example in the Netherlands increase generation again. Because natural gas is less CO2 intensive than lignite, this would lead to an overall emission reduction, Agora Energiewende argues.
See the press release and download the paper in German .
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鈥湽竺柍� analysis on Gabriel鈥檚 climate contribution: 'There isn鈥檛 a more gentle way to introduce structural change' 鈥�
The proposed climate levy for old, CO2 intensive power stations is 鈥渆conomically reasonable and ecologically necessary鈥�, the Green Budget Germany (贵脰厂) has found in an analysis. The climate levy is a market based tool that precisely targets the oldest power stations with the highest emissions, a press statement by the 贵脰厂 says. Power prices would rise less and power station operators will keep more of their decision making powers, compared to other possible measures to cut emissions from the power sector. The analysis calculates which power stations in Germany will be effected by the levy and to what degree this will make their power production more expensive.
See the 贵脰厂 press release in German .
See the study in German .
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Renewables Grid Initiative
鈥淥pen letter: Grid operators and environmental groups jointly support presented plans to reform electricity market鈥�
The of transmission system operators TenneT and 50Hertz together with environmental groups Germanwatch, WWF and NABU say they welcome Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel鈥檚 efforts to create a clear framework for the power market. 鈥淭o maintain high system stability in Germany and move the energy transition forward consistently, new power lines are needed,鈥� they write in an open letter to the minister.
Read the letter in English .
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Handelsblatt
WWF op-ed: 鈥淒on鈥檛 buckle!鈥�
Germany can only achieve its greenhouse gas reduction targets if it tackles power production from lignite, like the recent government proposal for a climate levy on the biggest emitters does, writes Regine G眉nther, head of climate and energy policy at WWF Germany in a guest commentary for the Handelsblatt. Germany isn鈥檛 the only country that has introduced national measures to reduce CO2 emissions because the European emission trading system (EU ETS) does not work, G眉nther says. Now German politics have to make clear that it is taking its own climate targets seriously and the government mustn鈥檛 buckle to the threats coming from the old energy sector.
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E.ON / Wirtschaftswoche
鈥淣o economic prospects: Owners of the Irsching 4 and 5 gas-fired power stations announce their closure鈥�
The owners gas-fired power station Irsching in Bavaria have notified the Federal Network Agency that they wish to mothball the highly efficient combined-cycle gas turbines Irsching 4 and 5. As a reason they give the lack of 鈥減rospect of operating profitably when the current contract with the network operator expires in March 2016鈥�, a statement by E.ON and the other operators of Irisching says. If the network agency deems the plants to be relevant to the stability of the power system, it will not permit the shutdown. 鈥淓.ON and the other owners view the shutdown notices鈥攁nd any legal action that may become necessary if the shutdowns are prohibited鈥攁s a last resort. It would be better for all sides to find a regulatory framework that covers the actual costs of maintaining the units as reserve capacity and dispatching them to stabilize the network鈥�, the statement says.
An article in the magazine Wirtschaftswoche said that threatening to shut down Irsching was E.ON鈥檚 way of putting pressure on the government to decide how it will pay for a capacity reserve that would include gas fired stations.
See the press release in English .
See the Wirtschaftswoche article in German .
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惭辞辞诲测鈥檚
鈥�Moody's downgrades E.ON to Baa1; stable outlook鈥�
Rating agency 惭辞辞诲测鈥檚 has downgraded German utility E.ON's credit rating, citing 鈥渃ontinuing headwinds that E.ON faces in its domestic and international businesses, which limit the group鈥檚 financial flexibility in the context of the planned reorganisation,鈥� as a reason.
See the 惭辞辞诲测鈥檚 statement in English .
See a 威力彩玩法 Dossier on the utilities and the Energiewende here.
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ABB
"ABB Germany holds up well in dificult environment"
Swiss engineering group ABB said the 鈥渟luggish implementation鈥� of the Energiewende hampered necessary investment. Order intake of its German unit from within Germany rose 2014 by 2.4 percent, but fell overall for ABB Germany by five percent, it said in a media release.
Read ABB鈥檚 media release in German
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*Like the 威力彩玩法, Agora Energiewende is a project funded by Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation.
