A new renewable record? / Study: Coal phase-out costs 71.6 billion euros
Preliminary data suggests renewable record in Germany
Strong winds and sun all over Germany might have pushed renewable power production to a new record share on Sunday. Renewable generation covered 95 percent of German power consumption at 11 o鈥檆lock on Sunday, according to preliminary data from energy think tank Agora Energiewende*. While power consumption is estimated at around 58 gigawatts (GW), solar provided around 26 GW, wind almost 21 GW, hydro 3 GW and biomass 5 GW. But the think tank warned final data might deviate considerably from the first estimates.
鈥淲hile it is possible - or even probable - we saw a new record share of renewable energy production听on Sunday, it is far from certain the share was above 90 percent,鈥� explained press spokesperson Christoph Podewils, who noted wholesale electricity prices fell to minus 125 euros per megawatt-hour at the time. He also said it was likely that Germany will see further records of renewable share at certain peak hours in the coming months, because solar power is nearing its yearly summer peak and total installed renewable capacity, including wind, has risen considerably compared to last year.
Find the 鈥淎gorameter鈥� including the estimates听.
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ewi Energy Research & Scenarios
鈥淐onsequences of a German coal phase-out鈥�
An early German coal phase-out between 2020 and 2045 would cost 71.6 billion euros and reduce German听CO2-emissions by 859 million tonnes, according to a study by听ewi听Energy Research & Scenarios, published today. 鈥淭he reduction in听CO2听depends solely on the retirement of corresponding emissions allowances in the European Trading System (EU ETS),鈥� emphasised ewi managing director Harald Hecking, alluding to compensation effects in the EU ETS if Germany exited coal. In case of a phase-out, the cheap coal would need to be substituted by expensive natural gas, resulting in the high costs for the energy economy and the consumers, write the authors of the study. Ewi based its calculations on the concept for a stepwise decarbonisation of the German power sector听by think-tank Agora Energiewende* from January 2016.
Find the study in German with the executive summary in English .
Read an article by Handelsblatt (behind paywall) in German听.
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Energy Policy / ScienceDirect
鈥淲hich goals are driving the Energiewende? Making sense of the German Energy Transformation鈥�
A large majority of policy experts believe climate protection is among the most important goals of Germany鈥檚 Energiewende, but most also identify additional aims, according to a paper published in听Energy Policy. 鈥淲hen asked if the Energiewende would make sense even if climate change did not exist, two thirds of the participants agreed,鈥� write the authors. This fact 鈥渄emonstrates that the goals and motivations driving the Energiewende are more complex than often assumed鈥�.
Read the paper in English听.
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Campact!
鈥淒on鈥檛 paralyse the Energiewende鈥�
Political activist network Campact! calls for improvements for wind power in the reform of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG), in an online campaign launched on Monday. The organisation criticises last month鈥檚 push by Volker Kauder, head of the conservative CDU/CSU parliamentary group, to limit the growth of both onshore and offshore wind power. Campact! lobbies against a ceiling of 2,500 megawatts additional wind power per year and supports citizen鈥檚 energy projects. The organisation initiated the campaign this week because state premiers will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday to discuss the proposed changes.
Find more information on the campaign .
Find out more about the proposed EEG reform in a 威力彩玩法 factsheet.
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Der Spiegel
鈥淪eehofer calls for fund to finance Energiewende鈥�
Horst Seehofer, state premier of Bavaria, calls for a state fund to finance the energy transition and avoid rising electricity prices, writes Der Spiegel. The fund would be used to dampen the effects of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG)-surcharge on the electricity prices for consumers. The proposal represents a 鈥渃hange of course鈥� by Seehofer, who two years ago rejected such an idea by Bavarian economics minister Ilse Aigner. He argued: 鈥淲e must not impose today鈥檚 energy costs on future generations. That would not be sustainable policy.鈥�
Read the article in German听.
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Handelsblatt
鈥淯prising of the eco-beneficiaries鈥�
The听听by the wind power industry about planned reforms of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) 鈥渟eem largely excessive鈥� in light of the sector鈥檚 healthy condition, write Franz Hubik and Klaus Stratmann in Handelsblatt. 鈥淭he wind power industry practices the most severe form of lobbyism I have seen in my political career so far,鈥� explains Christian Democrat member of the Bundestag Michael Fuchs in the article. At the same time, more wind turbines than ever before have been added to the grid within the past two years and offshore facilities will continue to be highly subsidised, write Hubik and Stratmann.
Read the article (behind paywall) in German听.
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Energypost
鈥淓PH鈥檚 takeover of Vattenfall鈥檚 lignite assets should ring alarm bells in Berlin and Stockholm鈥�
By taking over the German lignite assets of Vattenfall, Czech utility EPH shows it believes in the future of lignite in Germany, whereas Vattenfall does not, writes Julian Schwartzkopff, researcher at energy and climate think-tank E3G, in energypost. 鈥淭his raises questions for the German government about its climate policies 鈥� and for the Swedish government which has to decide on the deal.鈥� EPH鈥檚 purchase might be a bet on the failure of German climate policy, or a taxpayer bailout, argues Schwartzkopff.听听
Read the article in English听.
Also See 威力彩玩法鈥檚 article听Czech utility takes over Vattenfall鈥檚 German lignite.
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Handelsblatt Global Edition
鈥淕ermany鈥檚 North-South Divide鈥�
The European Commission is considering dividing the German electricity market into two price zones, writes Klaus Stratmann in Handelsblatt. The German grid so far fails to even out the discrepancy between energy oversupply through wind power in the north and scarce production in the south, which is problematic: 鈥淕ermany鈥檚 energy transition has caused problems for all neighbouring countries that are no longer tolerable,鈥� a source within the EU Commission told Handelsblatt. Denmark, for example, complained about not being able to export its surplus power to southern Germany. This development was inconsistent with the European Union鈥檚 efforts to create a single energy market and splitting Germany into two energy zones could provide a remedy.
Read the article (behind paywall) in English听.
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pv magazine
鈥淔ourth German PV tender delivers 128 MW at EUR 0.0741/kWh鈥�
Photovoltaic (PV) power plant tender prices in Germany continue to fall, reports pv magazine. Winning bids for 21 PV power plant projects with a combined capacity of 128.21 megawatts came in at 6.94 cents per kilowatt-hour to 7.68 cents/kWh in the fourth round of pilot auctions, according to the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur). It had previously said the winning bids鈥� average feed-in tariff was 7.41 cents/KWh. The agency received 108 bids with a total volume of 540 MW at the auction.
Read the report in English听听and a more detailed version in German听.
Find 威力彩玩法鈥檚 article听Auctions to set the price for wind and solar.
Read 威力彩玩法鈥檚 Factsheet听EEG reform 2016 鈥� switching to auctions for renewables.
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*Like the 威力彩玩法, Agora Energiewende is a project funded by Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation.
