In the media: Wind power record in December; nuclear waste disposal; Heligoland looks where the wind is blowing
Wirtschaftswoche
"Wind power breaks one record after another"
Between 3400 and 3700 megawatts of new wind power capacity have been built in Germany in 2014, Mario Br眉ck writes in the Wirtschaftswoche. But this is not the only record: According to the International Economy Forum Renewable Energies (IWR) in Cologne, December 2014 was the month with the highest production of power from wind ever, Br眉ck reports. Wind turbines generated almost nine billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, according to preliminary data from the electricity exchange. On the 12th of December, wind power made up one third of German power supply, the Fraunhofer ISE institute said according to the Wirtschaftswoche. In 2015, when several offshore wind parks go online, power output will increase even further, Br眉ck writes.
Read the article in German .
See the press release from the IWR in German .
See the Fraunhofer ISE solar and wind power generation figures for 2014 in German .
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Die Welt
鈥淪eehofer attacks Gabriel over power-line ultimatum鈥�
Bavarian Minister President Horst Seehofer dismissed Federal Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel鈥檚 demand that the state decide by the end of January where power lines connecting wind power from the north to Bavaria in the south will run. Seehofer repeated that Bavaria is carrying out a public dialogue as planned, which will culminate at the end of February when state officials sit down with the federal government and present their position.
Read the story in German .
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dpa/Spiegel Online/Focus
鈥淚nterview/OEW head: There is a global market for nuclear waste鈥�
It is possible that Germany鈥檚 nuclear waste could be stored abroad, as there is a 鈥済lobal market鈥� for atomic waste, said Heinz Seiffert, head of the municipal association OEW, one of utility EnBW鈥檚 owners, in a dpa interview that was widely picked up by the German media. Seiffert pointed out that Germany is already importing power from nuclear installations in surrounding countries, and said that solutions must also be found for waste from hundreds of nuclear facilities around the world. In view of that fact, German companies could use the money they are currently setting aside to deal with shutting down nuclear plants to find a solution, he said. He added that industry will not fund political 鈥渟earch loops鈥� that could cost billions of euros without leading to a solution. In response, various politicians rejected the idea of exporting nuclear waste. Green politician Franz Untersteller, as well as FDP politician Hans-Ulrich R眉lke, both from Baden-W眉rttemberg, said in Spiegel Online and in Focus that Germany had to take responsibility for its own nuclear waste.
Read the dpa story in the S眉ddeutsche Zeitung in German .
Read the Focus article in German .
Read the Spiegel Online article in German .
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Zeit Online
鈥淔resh breeze for Heligoland鈥�
On the tiny island of Heligoland in the middle of the North Sea, the wind industry is conducting one of its biggest offshore projects to date 鈥� installing enough wind turbines to power nearly a million households forty kilometres away on the mainland, Katja Scherer reports in a feature in Die Zeit. The industry has put three billion euros into the effort already, but the islanders are skeptical as to whether the project will save Heligoland鈥檚 precarious economy.
Read the article in German .
