High energy industry investments, but uncertainty for 2020/21 – report
Clean Energy Wire
The German energy industry invested about 15.5 billion euros in 2018, second only to the car industry, writes the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) in its investment report. “The investment figures show the great importance of companies in the electricity and gas industry for the German economy,” said BDEW head Kerstin Andreae in a press release. She added that the industry could become a main pillar of a sustainable economic recovery after the coronavirus crisis. The report indicates, however, that planned investments by power suppliers this year and next are set to fall to levels not seen since 2013. “There is a high degree of uncertainty for the projects currently being planned for the period after 2020 due to the current political and economic conditions,” the report states.
Key energy policy legislation has been held up in government and parliament for months, hurting planning security for companies in the sector. Germany will shut down its last nuclear power plant in 2022 and plans to exit coal by 2038 at the latest, while aiming to expand the share of renewables to 65 percent of power consumption by 2030. While the nuclear phase-out is regulated, the coal exit act and amendments to ensure wind and solar power development have yet to be approved.
