German industry and energy companies propose to speed up renewables and grid buildout
Tagesspiegel Background / Clean Energy Wire
An alliance of grid operators, energy companies and industry businesses has presented joint proposals to accelerate the much-needed expansion of renewable power sources and the transmission grid in Germany, reports Tagesspiegel Background. The special feature of the initiative called 'Together - Faster - Climate-neutral' is that the recommendations for action are significantly more detailed than other proposals presented so far, as they were specifically collected with the involvement of practitioners and then scientifically evaluated, writes Tagesspiegel. “Germany wants to be climate-neutral by 2045. This will only be possible if we all work together and if many players act in concert,” said Stefan Kapferer, CEO of grid operator 50Hertz. The alliance calls for digitalising public participation to speed up permit procedures, and relaxing rules for environmental impact assessments, among other things. It also demands preferred treatment for “climate infrastructure,” for example when it entails the allocation of land. Among the backers of the initiative are Aurubis AG, RWE Renewables, TÜV Nord Systems, TenneT, Vattenfall Wärme, Wacker Chemie and ARGE FNB Ost.
The new German government coalition has made accelerated renewables expansion a key task of its tenure and promised to speed up and simplify permit procedures. It aims for renewables to supply 80 percent of German electricity needs by 2030.
