Deal will help energy transition - E.ON & RWE / VW plans battery buys
RWE / E.ON
A deal to split German renewables company innogy and exchange large parts of their assets will help both E.ON and RWE better contribute to the success of energy transition, the companies said at a joint press conference. “With this realignment, we are convinced that we can better make the German and European energy transition a success than with today’s organisation,” E.ON CEO Johannes Teyssen said. The deal will produce “two focused, strengthened companies” which will be successful in the European market, RWE CEO Rolf Martin Schmitz said. In a press release, E.ON said the deal would lead to up to 5,000 job losses (of more than 70,000 jobs at E.ON after the deal). “At the same time, E.ON anticipates creating thousands of new jobs in the coming decade,” the company said.
Find the joint press release in English here.
For background, read the CLEW article RWE and E.ON overhaul power sector - German reactions to innogy deal and the dossier Utilities and the energy transition.
Bloomberg Gadfly
The deal to split innogy between E.ON and RWE so each can focus on a different area of the electricity market value chain could herald the end of the traditional model in which utilities offer everything from power production to supply, Chris Bryant writes in a commentary for Bloomberg Gadfly. “The challenges for traditional utilities are myriad, so it makes sense for them to try to simplify where they can,” Bryant says. innogy minority investors, as well as regulators, must still be convinced if the deal is to go through. “If E.ON and RWE can prevail, other utilities may follow,” Bryant writes.
Find the full commentary here.
For background, read the CLEW article RWE and E.ON overhaul power sector - German reactions to innogy deal and the dossier Utilities and the energy transition.
Reuters / Volkswagen / Left Party parliamentary group
German car manufacturer Volkswagen said it plans to buy battery cells and related technology worth around 20 billion euros for electric-vehicle projects in Europe and China, news agency Reuters reports. A supplier decision for North America will be taken shortly, the company said in a press release. Europe’s largest automaker will expand production of electric cars to 16 factories worldwide by the end of 2022, the carmaker said on Tuesday, presenting its 2017 results. The Volkswagen group nearly doubled its 2017 operating profit even while undergoing a costly strategic shift to electric and self-driving cars, and grappling with the emissions scandal, Reuters says. In 2017, the company had “record earnings despite billions in cash outflows from the diesel crisis,” VW said in its press release.
VW's 2017 results show that the company has enough money to pay for diesel car hardware retrofits, said Ingrid Remmers, transport spokesperson of the Left Party's parliamentary group in the Bundestag in a press release.
Read the Reuters articles in English here and here, and the VW press release in English here, and the Left Party's release here.
For background, read the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.
Acting German Chancellor and Christian Democrat (CDU) Angela Merkel and the leaders of her future coalition government partners the Christian Social Union (CSU) and Social Democratic Party (SPD) have signed the coalition treaty for the coming legislative period. Now that a “stable government capable of acting” had been built, the chancellor called for “a helping of joy” in governing, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports. “Then it can become good governmental work,” Merkel said. The election of the chancellor will take place in the German Bundestag tomorrow, 14 March, after which the cabinet will be appointed by the German president.
Find the press release in German here and the FAZ article in German here.
For background, read the CLEW factsheet Climate, energy and transport in Germany's coalition agreement and the article Coalition watch – The making of a new German government.
New Climate Institute / Climate Home
The German government's coalition agreement is a major missed opportunity to realign German climate policy with the Paris Agreement, Niklas Höhne writes in a blog for the New Climate Institute, translated to English for Climate Home. In scrapping the 2020 greenhouse gas reduction target, “Germany officially steps down as an international climate champion” even though the Paris Agreement “was made possible in the first place partly by Germany’s outstanding role in international climate diplomacy,” Höhne writes.
Read the article in English here and the original blog entry in German here.
For background, read the CLEW factsheet Climate, energy and transport in Germany's coalition agreement and the article Coalition watch – The making of a new German government.
50 Hertz
Over half of the power consumed within transmission grid operator 50Hertz’s control area last year (53.4 percent) was generated from renewables, the company says in a press release presenting its 2017 balance sheet. “We are proud that with this record share of renewables, we can contribute to a successful energy transition”, Boris Schucht, CEO of 50Hertz said. To support the next government's target of a 65 percent renewables share by 2030, the company is “prepared to make the additional efforts this requires,” he said.
Find the press release in English here.
For background, read the CLEW factsheet Germany's electricity grid stable amid energy transition.
Fossil Free Germany / Fossil Free Münster
The University of Münster is the first German university to rule out investments in the coal, gas and oil sectors, the divestment initiative Fossil Free Münster says in a press release. “This decision makes the University of Münster a role model of climate-friendly investment,” Clara Scharfenstein of Fossil Free Münster said.
Read the press release in German here.
For background, read the CLEW article Private climate finance under scrutiny on eve of Paris summit.
