New initiative for old diesel bans / Lower yield for grid operators
S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
The government of southern Germany鈥檚 state of Baden-W眉rttemberg, home to carmaker Daimler, wants to ban old diesel cars in cities, report Josef Kelnberger und Max H盲gler in S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. Only a 鈥�blue badge鈥� could reduce nitrogen oxide levels below legal limits, said Green state premier Winfried Kretschmann, who heads a coalition government of Greens and Angela Merkel鈥檚 Christian Democrats in the state鈥檚 capital Stuttgart.
Kretschmann said he would start a corresponding initiative in Germany鈥檚 upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, and hoped for support from the car industry. He said a blue badge would show that diesel engines can be clean, and would also quicken technological development. He said diesel engines would be needed as a 鈥渓ow-emission鈥� bridge technology and that 50,000 jobs in Baden-W眉rttemberg alone depended on the technology. Daimler said it was open to the blue badge, as long as the transition period was sufficiently long.
Read the article in German .
For background, read the new 威力彩玩法 dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.
Die Welt
There will be no official ban on combustion engines soon, despite the recent resolution of Germany鈥檚 upper house of parliament (Bundesrat) that new cars should be emission-free in the EU by 2030, writes Nikolaus Doll in Die Welt. Transport minister Alexander Dobrindt and Bavaria鈥檚 state premier Horst Seehofer, both from Bavaria鈥檚 sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel鈥檚 Christian Democrats, would veto a ban. Baden-W眉rttemberg鈥檚 Green state premier Winfried Kretschmann is also against setting a deadline, according to the article. A government spokesperson in VW鈥檚 home country Niedersachsen explained the aim of the Bundesrat resolution was not a ban, but to create the right conditions that only emission-free vehicles will be registered.
Read the article in German .听听
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 article German states - New cars in EU should be emission-free by 2030.
S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
More than a year after the start of the Dieselgate scandal, VW has said it will no longer exploit all legal possibilities to lower the official emission data of cars, report Klaus Ott and Katja Riedel in S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. The company said it had decided to 鈥渜uote more realistic CO2 figures鈥� for its cars. The switch will result in an average increase of two grams of CO2 emissions per kilometre. VW鈥檚 move could have expensive consequences for the entire industry, because EU regulations force it to lower emissions below 95 grams by 2020/21, according to the report.
Read a Reuters-Report on VW鈥檚 move in German .听
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet Dieselgate forces VW to embrace green mobility.
Federal Network Agency / FAZ
The Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) will lower the equity interest rates for operators of power grids and gas networks from 9.05 to 6.91 percent for new, and from 7.14 to 5.12 percent for old facilities. The lower rates - to be applied in 2018 for gas and in 2019 for power grid operators - "mirror low interest rates on the capital markets鈥�, and investments in the grids continued to be attractive, said BNetzA president Jochen Homann. The move was a surprise in light of massive protests against such plans from private energy companies, as well as local utilities and trade union Verdi, writes Helmut B眉nder in an article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).
The new rates would 鈥渕ake the distribution grid expansion significantly more difficult鈥�, Katherina Reiche, managing director of the municipal utility association VKU, said in a . Robert Busch, managing director of the Association of Energy Market Innovators (bne), welcomed BNetzA鈥檚 announcement. He said 鈥渢he decision brings relief for the energy consumers鈥� as they paid for the interest rates through the grid fees.
Find the press release by BNetzA in German .
The Guardian
The German government plans to put the brakes on wind power development in the country鈥檚 windy north because the electricity grid could not be extended quickly enough, writes Philip Oltermann in The Guardian. 鈥淪ome analysts argue that while Germany is right to address grid congestion, doing so by artificially slowing down the wind energy boom risks undermining the country鈥檚 credibility as a green leader,鈥� writes Oltermann. The government claimed the steps were necessary 鈥渢o stop the renewables revolution from undermining its own success鈥�, he wrote.
Read the article in English .
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 factsheets Re-dispatch costs in the German power grid and Loop flows: Why is wind power from northern Germany putting east European grids under pressure?
N-Ergie / Prognos AG
The continued renewables development in Germany could be realised with only half of the high-voltage direct current power lines currently planned, according to a study by Prognos AG, commissioned by German power supplier N-Ergie. 鈥淭he currently lagging grid expansion because of missing public acceptance is thereby no obstacle to a continued ambitious renewables development,鈥� according to the . The reduction in power lines was possible when incorporating parameters like the flexibility of consumers, the distribution of combined-heat-and-power facilities, an optimal feed-in management and inducing regional price signals to guide power production and consumption
Find the press release by N-Ergie in German and the study in German .
Installing PV arrays on private homes and consuming the generated electricity is financially attractive, but will not have a large effect on Germany鈥檚 power system as a whole, according to a study by consultancy Prognos commissioned by energy think-tank Agora Energiewende*. 鈥淭he personal use of solar power will remain secondary as a share of countrywide power consumption in the medium term, that is until 2035,鈥� according to a press release. Fears that a rising number of private individuals generating their own electricity will lead to a considerable hike in electricity costs for other consumers are not justified, because they alone would have to shoulder costs such as grid fees and the renewable surcharge.
Find the study in German .
*Like the 威力彩玩法, Agora Energiewende is a project funded by Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation.听听
Federal network agency (Bundesnetzagentur)
The Federal Network Agency has announced the first mutually opened auction for ground-mounted photovoltaic installations in cooperation with Denmark. Photovoltaic installations in Denmark can participate in a German auction alongside photovoltaic installations from Germany, as long as the electricity can be physically imported to Germany. Investors have until 23 November 2016 to submit bids for this auction to the Federal Network Agency, according to a press release. The maximum installation size for this auction round is 10 megawatts(MW), the maximum bid is 11.09 cents per kilowatt-hour, and the size of the auction is 50 MW.
Find the press release in English .
