Renewable payments 2015 / Two billion euros for e-cars
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung / Greenpeace
鈥淓xpenses for green power reach new record high鈥�
Payments for renewable power have reached a record high in 2015, Andreas Mihm reports for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Operators of wind, photovoltaics and biogas plants received 24.1 billion euros for their power, the of the grid operators shows. Michael Fuchs, head of the CDU-CSU Conservative Parties parliamentary group in the Bundestag, called on the energy minister to curb renewables support. The energy transition was 鈥渂ecoming a financial disaster鈥� and changing from feed-in tariffs to an auction scheme in 2019 was too late to fix it, Fuchs said.
In a response to Mr Fuchs鈥� remarks, Greenpeace energy expert Niklas Schinerl said that the cost peak for renewables had already been overcome. More sun and wind was increasing the payments to renewable installations but it also lowered costs at the wholesale market, which industry was benefiting from, he added.
Germany鈥檚 renewable law guarantees feed-in payments to green power plants for 20 years. Researchers that costs will peak in 2023.
Read the article in German .
Read a 威力彩玩法 factsheet about the green energy account here.
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Federal Government
鈥淣o forecast for renewable energy surcharge鈥�
The government advises against medium-term forecasts of the renewable energy surcharge consumers pay with their power bills. Changes in the weather and the wholesale power price can add up to differences of three billion euros in Germany鈥檚 national green energy account, equivalent to one cent per kWh in the surcharge for the following year, according to the report. 鈥淭his area of insecurity rises with an increasing share of renewables鈥�, writes the government. A reliable forecast was therefore 鈥渙bjectively not possible鈥�.
Find the report in German .
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Die Zeit / Reuters
鈥淕ermany wants to put 2 billion euros into encouraging electric cars鈥�
Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel plans to use 2 billion euros to encourage people to buy electric vehicles, Reuters reports, citing an article in German weekly Die Zeit. The money could be used to pay buyers of electric cars a premium and to expand the network of charging stations.
Read the article in English .
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Handelsblatt
鈥淭erium and the green hope鈥�
RWE Innogy, the renewable subsidiary of utility RWE has announced a doubling of its operating results in 2015 to around 400 million euros, Franz Hubik reports in the Handelsblatt. This is good news for CEO Peter Terium, after RWE lost half of its value at the stock exchange within one year. When RWE splits its renewable operations from the mother company in April, half of the money raised in the stock market launch will be invested in renewables development as part of a 鈥渃ontrolled offensive鈥�, Terium said. In the conventional power sector RWE will only invest what is necessary, he said.
Read the article in German .
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Handelsblatt
鈥淚deal Laboratory鈥�
Germany鈥檚 Energiewende has entered a new phase after renewables have become mainstream, argues Andreas Kuhlmann, head of the German Energy Agency (dena). The buzzword of the second phase is 鈥渋ntegrated energy鈥�, which is about connecting a huge number of decentralised units. 鈥淓lectricity, heat, transport, industry 鈥� in all areas, work is ongoing and giving rise to the conviction that the best synergies can be realised by integrating various sectors. An ideal laboratory for many innovations and German engineering,鈥� writes Kuhlmann. He says politicians have their work cut out because today鈥檚 framework is still geared to the first phase of the Energiewende, and might not suit the second phase.
