In the media: No tax-payer money for nuclear power - German minister
Reuters
“Germany says using tax money for nuclear power ‘out of question’”
Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, said that he would not agree “by any means that nuclear energy be supported with public money,” Reuters reports. His comments put him at odds with his counterparts from the UK and France. “Nuclear energy is the most expensive kind of generation. It has now been around for 50 years, it is not new and it is dangerous,” Gabriel said at the first minister meeting about the new EU Energy Union in Brussels. Unlike Britain and France, who are promoting nuclear power as a carbon-free power source, Germany is pursuing a nuclear phase-out, boosting renewables power to reduce emissions from the electricity sector.
See the Reuters article in English here.
See a CLEW factsheet on Germany’s nuclear phase-out here and an article about reactions on the UK nuclear project Hinkley Point here.
Ernst&Young
“Businesses view Energiewende with scepticism again”
In its latest energy transition survey (Energiewende-Index), consultancy Ernst&Young (EY) found that actors in the energy and power sector regard the Energiewende less favourably than before. The majority of power suppliers and grid operators believe that the transition to a carbon-neutral economy has negative effects on their businesses. They fear that the security of the power supply will be endangered in the next three to five years and support the implementation of a capacity market (suppliers 56.3%; grid operators 59.1%). For the Energiewende-Index, EY surveys 2000 CEOs and managers in the energy sector every quarter, with an average reply rate of 15 percent.
See the EY press release in German here.
Download the EY study in German here.
See a CLEW summary of stakeholder views on the new power market design here.
ARD Tagesschau.de / Handelsblatt
E.ON and partners want to close down highly modern gas power plant
Utility E.ON is planning to shut down its gas-fired power plant Irsching near Ingolstadt (Bavaria), because operating costs can hardly be covered by earnings, TV station ARD reports. Irsching is the most modern gas power station in Europe and went online in 2010, the article says. E.ON and its partners HSE, Mainova und N-Ergie will apply to the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) for the plant to be mothballed in 2016, a Handelsblatt report adds. This summer, the German government will draft legislation on a new power market design. The power sector wants to include a capacity market in the plan that ensures gas-fired power stations like Irsching can operate profitably.
See the Tagesschau.de article in German here and the Handelsblatt pick-up in German here.
See a CLEW Dossier on the power market here and stakeholder views on the new market design here.
Zeit Online
“Parliament wants to permit e-cars on bus lanes”
The German federal parliament (Bundestag) has passed a law promoting electro-mobility, including privileges for e-car drivers such as the use of bus lanes or free parking. But towns and districts who are permitted by law to take advantage of these benefits, including Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, have signalled they will refuse to let e-cars use bus lanes because this could slow public transport. The lanes are used to capacity by busses, taxis and ambulances, they argue, according to the Zeit Online article. The German government wants to see one million e-cars on the road by 2020 but so far, high prices have limited e-car buying.
Read the article in German here.
Electric Energy Online / Voith
“Expert study illustrates key significance of hydropower for the European energy transition”
According to a survey by researchers at TNS Emnid on behalf of the company Voith Hydro, a majority of 600 energy experts from five European countries stated that hydropower would play a key role in the fight against climate change. However, 63 percent of participants in Germany felt that hydropower was not sufficiently promoted. 46 percent of German experts said that hydropower had the best image of all renewable energies in Germany.
See the article in English here.
See the Voith presentation of the survey results in German here.
