Need for skilled labour in building modernisation / Energy law reforms
BuVEG / FIW / VdZ / Prognos / Öko-Institut
Three studies highlight the additional need for skilled labour to implement the energy transition in the German buildings sector.
The Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut) has published a policy paper highlighting the need for an additional 100,000 skilled workers in window construction, heating installation, and plaster works, and stressing that the lack of workers already impedes the necessary modernisation of buildings. “Securing skilled labour for the implementation of the energy transition must become a priority on the political agenda,” writes the institute.
Find the press release in German here, and the policy paper in German here.
There is already a shortage of skilled workers in the plumbing, heating, and air conditioning sectors in Germany, and the labour requirements of the energy transition only aggravate the problem, according to a study published by Prognos and commissioned by the building technology umbrella organisation VdZ. By 2035, Prognos projects the need for 30,000 additional workers. For the implementation of the energy transition in the building sector, an additional 20,000 workers will be needed in plumbing, heating and cooling, writes Prognos.
Find the press release in German here, and the study in German here.
If Germany modernised all its existing buildings and made them more energy efficient in line with its 2050 climate targets, about 215,000 new jobs could be created in the building sector alone, said the Federal Association of Energy Efficient Building Envelopes (BuVEG) citing a study compiled by FIW München. The rate of building modernisation should be doubled to 1.6 percent of the German building stock annually, said BuVEG.
Find the press release in German here, and the study in German here.
For background, read the CLEW dossiers The Energiewende and Efficiency and The energy transition's effect on jobs and business.
Tagesspiegel Background
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) is working on draft amendments to the Renewable Energy Act (EEG), the Combined Heat and Power Act (CHP), and other energy laws, writes Hendrik Köstens for Tagesspiegel Background. The draft, seen by Tagesspiegel Background, proposes to reduce the maximum support rates in onshore wind and solar PV auctions from the second half of 2018 on. For onshore wind, the rate would be reduced from 7 cents per kilowatt hour (ct/kWh) to 5.7 ct/kWh, and for solar from 8.91 ct/kWh to 6.5 ct/kWh, writes Köstens. The draft is set to be approved by the federal cabinet on 9 May so that the federal parliament (Bundestag) and the council of state governments (Bundesrat) can decide on it before the summer break, writes Köstens.
Find the article (behind paywall) in German here.
For background, read the CLEW factsheet From ideas to laws – how Energiewende policy is shaped, and the dossier The reform of the Renewable Energy Act.
Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND)
Nuclear incidents or serious accidents could happen “at any moment” in Germany, and the country’s emergency management plans are insufficient, writes the environmental NGO Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND) based on a study written by Oda Becker from the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts. The study points to insufficient security standards for flood defences, earthquakes or terrorist threats, writes BUND.
Find the press release in German here, and the study in German here.
For background, read the CLEW dossier The challenges of Germany’s nuclear phase-out.
innogy
German renewable energy company innogy’s supervisory board has appointed Uwe Tigges as the new CEO, the company says in a press release. Uwe Tigges had initially been appointed as interim CEO of innogy following Peter Terium’s resignation from the executive board of innogy in December 2017.
Read the press release in English here.
For background, read the CLEW piece Deal between utilities E.ON and RWE set to reshuffle German energy market and the article RWE and E.ON overhaul power sector - German reactions to innogy deal.
dpa
The Bavarian arm of the Industrial Union of Metalworkers (IG Metall) is calling for state support for a battery cell factory in the southern German state, news agency dpa reports in an article carried by Welt Online. “The state government should extend financial support to the establishment of a consortium that not only researches the cell, but produces it as well,” the head of Bavarian IG Metall, Jürgen Wechsler, told dpa. The car industry, which employs 400,000 people in the state, must not be dependent on battery cells produced in Asia, the union argues.
Find the article in German here.
For background, read the CLEW dossier The energy transition's effects on the economy.
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi)
The federal government has published its National Reform Programme 2018, a report to be sent to the European Commission, in which Germany explains its policy reform plans. The section on energy and climate largely contains the provisions that Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democrats (SPD) agreed on in their grand coalition treaty at the beginning of 2018.
Find the press release in German here and the report in German here.
For background, read the CLEW dossier The next German government and the energy transition.
