Cabinet to postpone nuclear law decision - report / Surge in EEX CO2 trade
WirtschaftsWoche
The cabinet decision on a new law to regulate the financing of nuclear decommissioning and waste storage will be postponed until the end of August, writes WirtschaftsWoche. According to the unsourced report, utility RWE said it would not be able to finance the payment into a state administered fund. The federal government now wants to try and find a compromise and thinks about letting RWE pay in several instalments, writes WirtschaftsWoche.
Read the article in German here.
Find more info in the CLEW factsheet Securing utility payments for the nuclear clean-up.
A record 2,248 terawatt-hours (TWh) were traded on the spot and derivate power markets of the European Energy Exchange (EEX) in the first half of the year - an increase of 56 percent, according to a press release. Trading of secondary CO2 emissions increased seven-fold to 130 million tonnes.
Read the press release in English here.
Frankfurter Rundschau
The cap of solar PV and wind power development established with the reform of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) passed in parliament last week could endanger Germany’s climate targets, said Maria Krautzberger, president of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). It was “now crucial that the auctioned capacities are actually built to guarantee a relevant climate protection contribution”, said Krautzberger, according to an article in Frankfurter Rundschau.
Efficiency investments in buildings have a significant impact on real estate prices, according to an analysis by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). But the impact on rented apartments is smaller than on freehold property, reducing the incentive to invest in efficiency, such as insulation. This underlines the investment dilemma in rented apartments slowing the Energiewende: Owners have to shoulder the cost, but tenants stand to benefit because of lower energy bills. “To resolve the tenant-owner dilemma, policy should aim to help develop investment and financing concepts that serve the interests of both landlords and tenants,” according to the report.
Read the analysis in German here.
For background, consult the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and Efficiency.
der Freitag
Thanks to renewables, we don’t need nuclear energy to protect the climate, nor coal power to enable the nuclear exit, argues Rüdiger Haude, spokesperson of a solar support association, in politics weekly der Freitag. But several reforms of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) are meant to ensure “with brute force” that Germany will rely on coal power for a long time, and secure the survival of the traditional utilities, by putting the breaks on renewables.
Read the article in German here.
Revenues in the energy, water and waste management industry fell by 15.9 billion euros (or 2.6 percent) in 2014, the second decline in a row, reports Germany's statistics agency Destatis. The turnover of businesses with 20 employees or more amounted to 587.7 billion euros. Turnover in the electricity supply sector, which makes up about 80 percent of all revenues in this industry, fell 4.9 percent, while the gas supply sector saw an increase of 12.9 percent compared to 2013.
Read the press release in English here and a longer German version here.
Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW)
When it comes to climate protection, there is hardly any other sector where reality lags as far behind necessity as in the area of insulating buildings, according to the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW). In a collection of analyses, the Institute identifies the major stumbling blocks and suggests ways to overcome the obstacles. One example is by simplifying and standardizing insulation options, thereby increasing transparency for home owners.
Find the reports in German here.
Ecario
Petrol station operators should realise the transition to e-mobility is a huge business opportunity rather than a threat, according to e-car website Ecario. E-car drivers waiting for their cars to charge will spend much more time on the premises, and are likely to want to eat or drink something, shop, or use other services.
Read the article in German here.
pv magazine
Many producers showcased their storage devices at the Intersolar Europe trade fair in Munich. Jonathan Gifford, pv magazine global editor, and Götz Fischbeck, CEO of company Smart Solar Consulting, visited the exhibits and conducted a series of interviews with the companies, including Sonnen, Senec, E3/DC and Mercedes-Benz. Fischbeck says installing a storage device with a residential pv array has become a “no-brainer” in Germany. The penetration rate reached 70 percent this year for newly installed home pv arrays, compared to 40 percent last year.
Watch the ten-minute video in English here.
German Aerospace Centre
The German Aerospace Centre (DLR) began construction on a new single-tank test facility for thermal energy storage in molten salt (TESIS). “Energy storage is key for the energy supply of the future,” writes DLR in an article. “The research at the DLR is aimed at further developing molten salt technology. The goal is to lower costs and increase efficiency.” Molten salt is a non-toxic, non-flammable liquid that can easily be transported through pumps, used to store large quantities of energy, for example in solar thermal power plants, writes DLR.
