Negative power prices have limited influence / Flying windmills
Federal Grid Agency (BNetzA)
Many operators of nuclear, gas or coal-fired power plants in Germany do not throttle feed-in at times of 鈥�negative power prices,鈥� the Federal Grid Agency (BNetzA) has said in a press release. Although operators of conventional plants have to pay for disposing of their power during these phases, 鈥渁bout a quarter鈥� of plant capacity during peak feed-in times 鈥渄id not react or only partially reacted to wholesale power prices,鈥� BNetzA president Jochen Homann says. Only a small fraction of the provided power was necessary to cover the grid鈥檚 baseload or for re-dispatch measures, he adds. In its latest report on minimum power generation in Germany, the BNetzA cites the plants鈥� inflexibility and contractual commitments in the framework of the Combined Heat and Power Act as reasons for providing power at negative prices.
Find the BNetzA鈥檚 press release in German and the report in German .
For background, see the 威力彩玩法 factsheet Why power prices turn negative.
Handelsblatt
German utility E.ON is looking for cheaper alternatives to conventional wind power turbines and has identified so-called airborne wind energy as a promising option, Franz Hubik writes in Handelsblatt. According to company sources, E.ON invests three million euros in this 鈥減ossibly ground-breaking technology鈥� and is preparing first test runs with Dutch airborne wind energy systems manufacturer , Hubik writes. The technology resembles a kite that is tied to a rope and has a greater energy yield than conventional turbines at lower costs by harnessing wind in heights up to 450 meters, he explains.
Read the article in German .
Find a press release by Ampy Power in English .
S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
The beginning of the decommissioning of the nuclear plant Neckarwestheim should have been a moment of joy for all anti-nuclear activists in the German federal state of Baden-W眉rttemberg but instead it was met with protests once again, Josef Kelnberger writes in S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. Protesters argue that the plant鈥檚 decommissioning is being executed in the cheapest possible way in order to limit state-owned operator EnBW鈥檚 expenses, Kelnberger explains. Franz Untersteller, the state鈥檚 Green environment minister, assured critics that no safety compromises would be made: 鈥淣uclear power is a high-risk technology also when it comes to a phase-out 鈥� we know that and so does EnBW,鈥� Untersteller said. The demolition of Germany鈥檚 17 remaining nuclear plants is estimated to cost about 19 billion euros, Kelnberger adds.
Read the article in German .听
For more information, see the 威力彩玩法 dossier The challenges of Germany鈥檚 nuclear phase-out.
Quartz
The German attachment to 鈥済as-guzzling autos鈥� is part of the reason for the country鈥檚 sustained high CO2 emissions, Jill Petzinger writes on website Quartz. According to transport expert Gregor Kolbe, 鈥淩IP鈥�, a combination of range, infrastructure and price, is responsible for the Germans鈥� reluctance to switch to e-cars, Petzinger writes. Another reason is that German carmakers鈥� combustion engines are simply too successful to provide impetus for change, Kolbe adds.
Read the article in English .
See the 威力彩玩法 dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers for additional information.
tageszeitung (taz)
The effect of think tank Agora Energiewende鈥檚* proposal for an ecologic tax reform on Germany鈥檚 major political parties will be limited, Hannes Koch writes in a commentary for tageszeitung (taz). Agora Energiewende suggests lowering fees on electricity and increasing those for gasoline and other fossil fuels in order to foster a climate-friendly energy provision, Koch explains. But neither the Social Democrats (SPD) nor the Christian conservative union of CDU/CSU is likely to advocate for increasing taxes in any sector, Koch says. 鈥淭he eco-tax fans still have to do a lot of persuading for this to succeed,鈥� he adds.听
Read the commentary in German .
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet Germany ponders how to finance renewables expansion in the future.
*Like the 威力彩玩法, Agora Energiewende is a project funded by Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Unfavourable political conditions have stalled plans for the construction of the Franzosenkopf pumped-storage hydropower plant near the city of Mainz, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. The plant is meant to store power from solar and wind power for times of low energy generation from renewable sources but currently could not be operated in an economically viable manner, the article says. Stefan Kapferer, head of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), recently said many hydro-storage plants in Germany were threatened because 鈥�grid fees are charged both for filling and for emptying the storage,鈥� the newspaper explains.
For additional information, see the 威力彩玩法 factsheet How can Germany keep the lights on in a renewable energy future?.
S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
At first, the government of the German state of Baden-W眉rttemberg bristled at French energy company EDF鈥檚 decision to postpone the decommissioning of the Fessenheim nuclear plant until at least 2019 鈥� but it has now emerged that there could be 鈥渁 veritable conflict of interests for the state government,鈥� Markus Balser and Leo Klimm write in S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. In 1972, a predecessor of Baden-W眉rttemberg鈥檚 state-owned energy company EnBW took over 17.5 percent of construction costs for the plant near the German border in exchange for a guaranteed energy supply, they explain. According to EDF, EnBW 鈥� and with it, the state鈥檚 taxpayers 鈥� 鈥渃ontribute to the costs resulting from decommissioning,鈥� the authors say. According to EnBW, however, financial responsibility for Fessenheim ended in 2015, they add.
Read the article in German .
See the 威力彩玩法 factsheet Securing utility payments for the nuclear clean-up for background.
