Climate Action Plan 2050 worries industry / Further RWE impairments
Handelsblatt / Ministry for Environment
“Everything for the climate”
The Ministry for Environment (BMUB) is about to enter the second phase of consultation for its Climate Action Plan 2050, and has published a 288-page “measure set” as a basis for the upcoming discussion with stakeholders. While some proposed measures are mostly harmless, others will cause concern for businesses, write Silke Kersting and Klaus Stratmann in the Handelsblatt.
For example, there are six different proposals for a coal exit, ranging from establishing a consultation process to run-time limitations for coal plants. In the building sector, property tax could become tied to energy efficiency, and using renewable energy for heating could become compulsory. The number of allowances in the European emissions trading system could be further reduced, and a speed limit could be introduced on motorways, the paper suggests.
The Handelsblatt quotes business sources saying some proposals are “not worth discussion”. The Climate Action Plan 2050 is aimed at helping Germany achieve its 2050 target of an 80-95 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and is due in summer 2016.
Read the measure set for the Climate Action Plan 2050 in German here.
“RWE sets course for successful development in difficult market environment”
RWE's conventional power generation took a further hit due to the "continued collapse of wholesale electricity prices”, leading to an impairment of 2.1 billion euros for RWE’s German and British power stations, the company says in a press release. But earnings from its renewables division doubled in 2015 compared to 2014. RWE said it had achieved its operating earnings goals for 2015, despite the unfavourable conditions.
The company posted an operating result of 3.8 billion euros and adjusted net income of 1.1 billion euros for 2015. The board proposed a suspension of dividend payments for 2015. The company was on schedule to complete the creation of a new subsidiary for renewables, grids and supply, the text says. For 2016, RWE expects an operating result of 2.8 to 3.1 billion euros.
Read the press release in English here.
Read a CLEW dossier on the utilities in the Energiewende here.
EU Commission / Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
Sustainable energy security package – combine efficiency and renewables in heating and cooling, says German state secretary
The European Commission has released an energy security package aiming to equip the EU for a global energy transition and for possible energy supply interruptions. The proposal further specifies measures for an Energy Union, e.g. in the heating and cooling sector and gas supply.
State Secretary Rainer Baake from the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) said the package highlighted the need for a functioning internal market, more efficiency and the diversification of energy sources, supply countries and supply routes, as well as the ongoing development of renewable energy. In the heating and cooling sector, he said it was necessary to look at an increase in efficiency combined with renewable development – only then would the most efficient solutions be achieved.
Read the EU Commission press release about the energy security package here.
Read the BMWi press release in German here.
Read CLEW dossiers on energy security and on Germany’s energy transition in the European context here and here.
EEX / EPEX SPOT
EEX and EPEX SPOT welcome German power market law
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) and European electricity exchange EPEX SPOT are in favour of Germany’s new power market design, they say in a press release. The draft law showed commitment to the free formation of market prices, and to preventing political intervention even in the event of very high power prices - which was key to further European cooperation and competition in the power market, the two businesses said.
Read the press release in English here.
Read a CLEW factsheet on the German draft power market design.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The time of e-cars will come, without subsidies - it will only take a little longer
It’s fun to drive an e-car, but even a buyer’s premium won’t make them cheap enough for the mass market yet, writes Henning Peitsmeier in a commentary in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Such a subsidy would benefit an industry that is making billions of euros in profits and has been paying its shareholders record dividends for years. A new generation of batteries will improve e-cars significantly in two years’ time, increasing their appeal and lowering costs, Peitsmeier says. He argues there is no point subsidising the technology until then. “The government should abandon its aim of bringing 1 million electric vehicles onto the roads by 2020,” concludes Peitsmeier. “It should instead make sure cars with petrol and diesel engines stay within emission and consumption limits.”
The government postponed a decision over how to boost e-mobility until March, after a high-level meeting with representatives of the country’s carmakers failed to reach an agreement in early February.
Find a CLEW dossier on the Energiewende in transport here.
pv magazine
“RWE and old E.ON want to create alliance for electro-mobility”
RWE and the former E.ON business Uniper have signed a letter of intent to cooperate in the construction of a charging infrastructure for e-cars, reports Sandra Enkhardt in pv magazine. The companies aim to bundle their charging solutions and offer them to municipal and regional utilities and large business clients.
Read the report in German here.
pv magazine
“Daimler & Co don't want to make the same mistakes as RWE & Co”
In an interview with pv magazine, the head of the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE), Hermann Falk, said many car companies are now getting involved in the energy storage business and progress in this technology is comparable to the semiconductor industry. “Finally, the German car industry has realised the potential of this technology,” Falk said. “Daimler & Co do not want to make the same mistakes as RWE & Co, who realised very late it’s not a strategy to oppose the transition.”
Read the interview in German here.
