In the media: Should utilities survive?
Spiegel Online
鈥淟et the utilities die鈥�
Germany鈥檚 biggest utilities are in an existential crisis of their own making, writes Nicolai Kwasniewski in a commentary on Spiegel Online. 鈥淭he survival of the dinosaurs is improbable (鈥�) We shouldn鈥檛 shed any tears over them,鈥� he says. Kwasniewski argues the 鈥淏ig Four鈥� have shown again and again that they have been overwhelmed by the Energiewende and are not necessary for its success. But their collapse would also mean tax payers would have to foot the bill for decommissioning nuclear plants. 鈥淪ociety would have to pay this price for a neat conclusion of the Energiewende,鈥� he said.
Read the commentary in German .
See a 威力彩玩法 article on the energy giants' problems here.
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Tagesspiegel
鈥淯tilities: Market power makes lazy鈥�
The big utilities are needed to implement the Energiewende, writes Alfons Frese in a commentary in the Tagesspiegel. 鈥淭he know-how and strength of the big utilities are useful for navigating tricky new business areas like smart grids and storage capacities or demand-oriented generation. In order to enable them to do this job, Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel needs to explain soon under which conditions fossil plants can be held in reserve for when it is dark and the wind is still and renewables do not generate electricity.鈥�
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淲hat is wrong with energy policy鈥�
The misery of the utilities is largely due to the 鈥渋ncomprehensible rush鈥� of the nuclear phase-out in Germany after the Fukushima disaster exactly four years ago, writes Karl-Heinz B眉schemann in a commentary for S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. 鈥淓nergy policy is right insofar as it exits nuclear power and pushes renewables. But it鈥檚 wrong because it鈥檚 hectic and no longer predictable for companies (鈥�) the government has to find its way to a pragmatic energy policy.鈥�
Read the commentary in German .
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Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Nuclear phase-out 鈥渆xtraordinary power manoeuvre鈥�
It is still surprising that the Fukushima disaster had its most drastic political consequences in Berlin, writes Heike G枚bel in a commentary for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 鈥淭he Chancellor (Angela Merkel) sells the nuclear phase-out as a contribution to social peace. In reality, it was an extraordinary power manoeuvre to open up the possibility to govern with the Green party.鈥�
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Handelsblatt
鈥淣uclear power company cuts 1500 jobs in Germany鈥�
French nuclear power company Areva says it will cut 1,500 of its 5,100 jobs in Germany between 2015 and 2017, according to a Reuters report published in the Handelsblatt. Some of the jobs are temporary positions, the article quotes a spokeswoman as saying. Areva already cut 1,500 jobs in 2011 in Germany, it said. Areva鈥檚 headquarters in Germany are in Erlangen, with 3,315 workers, with other big operations in Offenbach and Karlstein.听 A separate article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine quotes a spokesman for the Offenbach operation, with its 700 workers, as saying that location is 鈥渦p for discussion,鈥� as is the future of all of Areva鈥檚 eight German locations. The news comes on the back of a 4.8 billion euro loss in 2014 and restructuring plans announced earlier in March, according to Reuters.
Read the Handelsblatt article in German .
Read the Frankfurter Allgemeine article in German .
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Security of power supply through cross-border cooperation
The (PLEF) has published a joint assessment of the security of power supply. The report for the first time calculates the joint power generation capacity of the seven countries Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland and assesses the impact they have on each other. A positive finding was that peak demand never occurs at the same time in the seven countries and that electricity from neighbouring countries helps to secure the supply in others, the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) says in a press release. The report supports the Ministry鈥檚 previous analysis that Germany will not face any power shortages, neither today nor in 2020/2021.
See the PLEF report in English .
See a joint statement by the Ministries in the PLEF in English .
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Bizz Energy Today
Hendricks: 鈥淢inimum prices are not necessary鈥�
In a comprehensive interview with Bizz Energy Today, Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks explains the German position on the reform of the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), saying that the envisaged market stability reserve would cause prices to rise, so that a set minimum price would not be necessary. Hendricks also says that while carbon capture and storage (CCS) is not an option for Germany because the 鈥淓nergiewende gives us better alternatives,鈥� the government will only support the export of German coal power stations if they are CCS-ready.
Read the interview in German .
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Ministry for Environment (BMUB)
鈥淕ermany makes resource efficiency a priority of its G7 presidency鈥�
The German government wants to suggest an alliance for resource efficiency with the G7 members, a press release says. As roughly 50 percent of global CO2 emissions from industry are caused by producing and processing steel, cement, paper, plastic and aluminium and because the use of resources will likely grow exponentially as the global population increases, Germany suggests finding more efficient ways to use resources. A G7 high level session on resource efficiency is taking place in Berlin ().
See a list of the German G7 presidency priorities in English .
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Germany Trade and Invest
Energiewende video
Germany Trade and Invest (), the government body to promote trade relations and inward investment, has published a video explaining the Energiewende and related technology innovation and is promoting it as an investment opportunity.
Watch the video in English .
