Slight increase in wind power support / Call for special auctions
Federal Network Agency
The average support rate for new onshore wind power projects has slightly increased in Germany’s third auction in 2018, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) said in a press release. Average support climbed to 6.16 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), from 5.73 ct/kWh in the previous tender. The lowest demanded support in the auction with a volume of 670 megawatt (MW) was 4.0 ct/kWh and the highest accepted support 6.3 ct/kWh, the agency said. Contrary to the last auction, applications exceeded the offered volume, “possibly due to the increase in support in the last two rounds,” the BNetzA said.
Read the press release in German here.
Find background in the CLEW factsheet High hopes and concerns over onshore wind power auctions and in the article Minister promises stability for troubled German wind power sector.
Die Welt / dpa
Green Party chairman Robert Habeck has warned that Germany risks haemorrhaging wind-turbine manufacturers, just as it lost its manufacturers of solar panels, dpa reports in an article carried by Die Welt. “We have promoted the technology for many years and made it cheap. The entire world is building on that now,” he said, adding that this puts pressure on German manufacturers. To bolster domestic production, Habeck called on the government to hold promised special auctions for onshore and offshore wind immediately.
Read the article in German here.
For background, read the articles Minister promises stability for troubled German wind power sector and Wind industry calls for special auctions amid expansion slowdown and the dossiers Onshore wind power in Germany and Offshore wind power in Germany.
Deutschlandfunk
NGOs and Green Party politicians have criticised the environment ministry for failing to meet the deadline to adopt stricter EU limits on pollution from power plants into national law, Benjamin Dierks reports for Deutschlandfunk. Germany was among the countries that opposed the new standards on nitrogen oxides, mercury and particulate matter, which the EU officially published on 17 August 2017. Power-plant operators have four years from that date to comply with the new limits, but according to German immissions law, they should be incorporated into national law within a year to give operators time to retrofit power plants, Deutschlandfunk says.
Find the article in German here.
Tagesspiegel Background
Each federal ministry must come up with a plan to help achieve the country’s 2030 climate goals by the end of 2018, Environment Minister Svenja Schulze writes in a guest article for Tagesspiegel Background. The federal government’s climate protection law, to be adopted next year, will “clearly” set out how much carbon can be emitted, both on an annual basis and by economic sector. "Any ministry that does not fulfil its duties must be responsible for the financial consequences. I will no longer accept inadequate measures that clearly undermine the targets,” she writes. Referring to friction between the ministries involved in climate action, the minister writes that “tactical games are irresponsible" and climate protection is everyone's responsibility.
Find the article (behind paywall) in German here.
For background, read the article Germany on track to widely miss 2020 climate target – government.
Der Tagesspiegel
This year’s persistent drought could help the push towards more climate-friendly agriculture in Germany, Susanne Ehlerding writes for Der Tagesspiegel. A working paper published after a meeting between farmers and environment minister Svenja Schulze lists several long-term measures needed for effective climate protection and adaptation in agriculture, including better research, more diversification and fair prices for agricultural products. Agriculture is responsible for 7 percent of Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions. The environment ministry has stressed that the sector must become both climate-friendly and climate-resilient, to mitigate and adapt to global warming.
Find the article in German here and the working paper in German here.
Association of German Cities (DST)
The Association of German Cities (DST), the German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB), the German Trade Association (HDE) and the Federal Association of Parcel and Express Logistics (BIEK) have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at making package delivery more efficient and environmentally-friendly. The associations agreed to replace conventional delivery vehicles with low-emission alternatives. Globalisation and the growth of online shopping are putting additional stresses on delivery services and cities, it explains. “People in cities do not want to be even more heavily burdened with noise and exhaust fumes,” Helmut Dedy, chief executive of DST, said.
Read the press release in German here and the memorandum of understanding in German here.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Jürgen Hambrecht, chairman of the supervisory board of German chemical company BASF, says Germany risks failing on the Energiewende. In an opinion piece for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he argues that the government must work fast to solve energy, digitalisation and infrastructure challenges. Given the status quo, reaching the most ambitious end of Germany's target range of cutting emmissions by 80 to 95 percent by 2050 is unimaginable on a technical, economic or societal level, Hambrecht writes.
Find the guest commentary (behind paywall) in German here.
