Renewables levy to rise to 6.88 cents - report / Car ban debate
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚听renewables surcharge听is to rise from 6.35 cents per kilowatt-hour (ct/kWh) to 6.88 ct/kWh next year, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) learned from grid operator sources. The 8 percent increase would be less than听predicted by experts. This is because existing savings on Germany's 'green energy account' would be used to finance renewable development in the election year 2017, writes Andreas Mihm. A regular three-person household would pay about 18 euros more per year because of the increase, writes Mihm.
The so-called Renewable Energy Act (EEG) surcharge covers the difference between the wholesale market price for power on the electricity exchange and the higher fixed remuneration rate for renewable energies. It is paid by consumers with their power bill. Grid operators are set to officially publish next year鈥檚 renewables surcharge听on Friday.
Find a short online version of the article in German听.
Read more about the new surcharge in the 威力彩玩法 article Germany鈥檚 renewables surcharge to rise less than expected - report.
For background, read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet听Balancing the books: Germany's "green energy account"听and the recent 威力彩玩法 article听Renewable energy levy set to rise in 2017 鈥� think tank.
Greenpeace Energy / Green Budget Germany (贵脰厂)
The hidden costs of electricity generated with coal, nuclear power, and gas mean consumers would have to pay a 鈥渃onventional energy surcharge鈥� of up to 10.8 cents per kilowatt-hour next year, according to a study by Green Budget Germany (贵脰厂) commissioned by renewable power provider Greenpeace Energy. Public subsidies for conventional energies and their real costs to society are likely to add up to 38 billion euros in 2017, according to the short analysis. The study shows that costs for 鈥渄irty and risky鈥� energy sources are still much higher than the costs for renewable development, according to Greenpeace 贰苍别谤驳测.听听听
Find the study in German听.
Frankfurter Rundschau / klimaretter.info
Baden W眉rttemberg鈥檚 Green environment minister Franz Untersteller has suggested partly replacing the renewable surcharge with taxpayers鈥� money. The high costs of early solar development shortly after the year 2000 should be financed separately by a fund, Untersteller says in an interview in Frankfurter Rundschau. 鈥淲e still carry a rucksack of old costs from the early days of the Renewable Energy Law (EEG), paid for primarily by private households and small companies.鈥� He adds that the fund would cut the surcharge by around two thirds, bolstering public acceptance of the energy transition.
Find the interview in German听.
S眉ddeutsche Zeitung
Wind power development in Germany鈥檚 windy northern states will be limited to cope with lagging grid expansion, according to a regulation draft by the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), seen by S眉ddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen, Hamburg and the northern half of Lower Saxony will be declared 鈥済rid congestion zones鈥�. In these areas, only about half of previous capacity additions would be allowed in the future, writes Michael Bauchm眉ller in SZ. This would amount to 902 of the total yearly addition of 2500 megawatts wind power capacity. The government had previously planned to include Hesse and the southern part of Lower Saxony in the grid congestion zones, according to the article.
Read the article in German听.
Also read the 威力彩玩法 article听Wind development has to wait for grid expansion听for background.
Tagesspiegel
Germany鈥檚 transport minister Alexander Dobrindt has dismissed a Green Party proposal to ban new registrations of fossil-fuel powered cars in 2030, reports Berlin daily Tagesspiegel. 鈥淎 complete end to combustion engines from 2030 is totally unrealistic,鈥� said Dobrindt, adding that the date was 鈥渟imply nonsense鈥�. He said it was right to push electric mobility but insisted that combustion engines will exist in parallel for a long time. 鈥淚t would be wrong to raise expectations that can鈥檛 be kept,鈥� said Dobrindt, according to the report.
Read the article in German听.
For background, read yesterday鈥檚 威力彩玩法 article听German states - New cars in EU should be emission-free by 2030.
Handelsblatt
The combustion engine does not have a future, but a ban would be counterproductive, writes Lukas Bay in an analysis in business daily Handelsblatt. 鈥淭he assumption that [a ban] would make German carmakers crisis-proof for a post-fossil age is wrong. The opposite is more likely: The German car industry would be disabled by a combustion ban.鈥� Bay argues that a ban would throw carmakers鈥� financial plans into chaos: E-mobility requires massive investments, but no carmaker is yet making a profit with electric cars. Bay argues the government should do more to stop the companies investing the majority of their research budgets into combustion technology. 鈥淩educing subsidies for the combustion engine, and environmentally friendly emission limits would be a good instrument,鈥� writes Bay.
Please Note: The 威力彩玩法 will publish a dossier on the prospects for German car makers in a renewable mobility future in the coming days.
For general background, read the 威力彩玩法 dossier听The energy transition and Germany鈥檚 transport sector.
tageszeitung / Federal Environment Agency (UBA)
听
Germany鈥檚 Federal Environment Agency (UBA) suggests a binding quota of e-car sales for car manufacturers to ensure the transport sector contributes to climate protection. 鈥淕erman carmakers do not want to leave the combustion engine. In the short term, they can earn more profits with it [鈥 but in the long term, they slumber away the future,鈥� said Martin Schmied, head of transport at the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), in an interview with tageszeitung. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good that we now talk about the end of the combustion engine, but this discussion must translate into actions in the short term.鈥� The UBA provides federal bodies such as the Ministry of the Environment with policy advice.
Read the interview in German听.听
