In the media: Worries at RWE; solar trade violations
S眉ddeutsche Zeitung / Handelsblatt
鈥淩WE fights for brown coal鈥�
Power company RWE is toughening its stance on energy minister Sigmar Gabriel鈥檚 proposal for a climate levy on old coal-fired power stations. The policy would lead to 17 of 20 power stations and two of three mines becoming uneconomical, RWE CFO Bernhard G眉nther told the S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. Some 7000 RWE jobs alone could be at risk, G眉nther said.
Environmental groups also worry about RWE鈥檚 financial well-being, writes J眉rgen Flauger in the Handelsblatt. A representative of anti-nuclear organisation 鈥淎usgestrahlt鈥� told the paper that it was time for RWE to transfer funds for decommissioning and waste storage of their nuclear power stations to a state-administered fund and that they should sell off parts of the company to finance the clean-up if necessary.
Read the Handelsblatt article in German .
See a 威力彩玩法 dossier on the German utilities and the energy transition听here and a recent article here.
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taz 鈥� die tageszeitung
鈥淓nergiewende without sense鈥�
It is 鈥減hysically impossible鈥� to achieve a higher than the current share of renewable energies in the German power mix, economist Hans-Werner Sinn from the Ifo Institute for Economic Research said this week, Malte Kreutzfeldt reports in the taz. Sinn is one of the most vocal critics of the Energiewende, Kreutzfeld writes. Sinn's main argument is that it won鈥檛 be possible to store wind and solar power, a problem 鈥渢hat you will not solve鈥�, he said. In 1993, the big four utilities had made a similar prediction, Kreutzfeld says. In the long-term renewable energies could not cover more than 4 percent of Germany鈥檚 power needs, they argued at the time 鈥� today renewables cover almost 28 percent, the author notes.
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S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
鈥淪olar warriors鈥�
German and European authorities are investigating solar firms for bypassing EU anti-dumping rules on imported Chinese solar panels, Markus Balser writes in the S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. Industry insiders talk of more than 1000 cases of violations of the rules. Balser also cites the German finance ministry as saying that at least twelve companies are suspected of having imported Chinese solar panels, avoiding anti-dumping tariffs.
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PV Magazine
Green energy account surplus tops 5 billion euros in April
The reserves on Germany鈥檚 renewable energy account rose to a record of over 5 billion euros in April, Sandra Enkhardt reports in PV Magazine, citing figures of the Network Agency. The figures confirm that the surcharge consumers pay with their electricity bills for the support of renewable energy could have been cut by more than the effective reduction from 6.24 to 6.17 cents per kilowatt hour, she writes.
Read the article in German
Read a 威力彩玩法 factsheet on the mechanics of the green energy account here.
Find the grid operators鈥� most recent account statistics in German .
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Renewables International
鈥淕ermany drastically increases 鈥榳inter reserve鈥欌��
At the beginning of the month, the German grid regulator announced a near tripling of the emergency backup capacity for the power sector, Craig Morris writes at Renewables International. This special pool of backup power plants to prevent shortfalls in power supply is called the 鈥渨inter reserve鈥� because power demand peaks in the winter, he explains. The Network Agency expects the winter reserve to shrink back in coming years, largely because grid upgrades are expected to make themselves felt by that time, he says.
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National Review
鈥淕ermany鈥檚 Green-Power Program Crushes the Poor鈥�
Germany鈥檚 energy policy has created a 鈥渂rutal鈥� burden for the poor as the support for renewable power has driven up electricity prices, writes Robert Zubrin, president of gas and oil industry equipment maker Pioneer Energy, in a contribution for the National Review Online. In response to an op-ed by , Zubrin writes the policy amounted to a 鈥渇orm of ultra-regressive taxation 鈥� in effect, a state-sponsored cult of human sacrifice for weather control鈥�.
鈥淕ermany has brought the world many remarkable political innovations, including government by bureaucracy, the welfare state, regimentation of education, Red, Brown, and Green parties, theoretical and applied racial science and engineering, the precautionary principle, and the systematic philosophical and practical negation of Judeo-Christian ethics,鈥� Zubrin concludes. 鈥淚ts heartless energy policy is entirely consistent with that history.鈥�
Read the post in English听.
Read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet on household power prices here.
Read a 威力彩玩法 article on the debate about the social implications here.
