In the media: Will PV auctions lower costs?
PV Magazine
“Accepted photovoltaic projects between 8.48 and 9.43 cents per kilowatt-hour”
Solar array bids accepted in Germany’s recent auction were between 8.48 and 9.43 cents per kilowatt-hour, averaging out at 9.17 cents, according to PV Magazine, citing a background paper from the federal network agency, BNA. The majority will be built in Brandenburg or Sachsen-Anhalt and in total 157 megawatts of ground-mounted solar arrays received subsidies, the magazine said. The smallest was for one megawatt, proving that even small bidders stand a chance of winning the tender, the magazine quotes the BNA as saying.
Read the article in German here.
See a CLEW article on the aution here.
Frankfurter Rundschau
“Eco-power will be more expensive than necessary”
Joachim Wille writes in the Frankfurter Rundschau that Germany’s recent auction for subsidised ground-mounted solar-arrays was “too bureaucratic” to give smaller bidders a chance and may not lead to lower costs as hoped. He notes that 40 percent of the accepted bids went to a single bidder, evidence that smaller bidders have little chance of winning the projects. In addition, the average price that the winning solar bidders will receive for their power is 9.17 cents per kilowatt-hour, higher than the recent guaranteed feed-in tariff of 9.02 cents, which the auctions are meant to replace. The latter would have fallen to 8.50 cents in two years under the previous plan, he says. “The installations that have now received the subsidies are producing power more expensively than necessary,” he says.
Deutsche Welle
“More jobs despite less coal”
Despite worries that Germany’s efforts to cut emissions will lead to job losses in the coal sector, the transition to renewable energies has actually created more jobs than are reflected in official statistics, Deutsche Welle says. According to a 200-page report about the effect of the Energiewende on the jobs market obtained by Deutsche Welle, Germany has added around 50,000 jobs on balance as a result of the transition. By 2020, the researchers expect this to rise to 73,000 and if exports increase, 150,000 new jobs could result. According to the economics ministry’s Energiewende Monitoring Report, employment in the sector rose by over 200,000 jobs between 2004 and 2013. In the wind and solar sectors, these jobs were mainly in industrial production and local trades and in biomass. But in contrast to traditional energy sector jobs, these are not included in federal statistics, Deutsche Welle says.
Read the article in German here.
See a CLEW factsheet on jobs from the Energiewende here.
BMWi
Economics ministry publishes second issue of Energiewende direct
The economics ministry has published the second issue of its online information newsletter, Energiewende direct, an English-language source of news and information about the German energy transition. The new issue includes stories on the fifty-year history of the Energiewende, Germany’s global partners and how renewable energies are creating jobs around the globe.
Read the newsletter in English here.
“Benchmark Study Power Market 2015”
The current power market design is very well-suited to expanding renewables and transforming the power market, as well as furthering integration of the internal energy market, according to the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy’s new benchmark study on the power market. It goes on to say that the energy-only market will ensure a reliable supply of power and that – if politicians deem it necessary – a capacity reserve could complement this. Regarding the report, State Secretary in the economics ministry Rainer Baake said, according to PV Magazine: “The study supports the opinion of the economics ministry that a further developed power market 2.0 can achieve security of supply cost-effectively and that we do not need a capacity mechanism.” To continue transforming the power market in a secure and cost-effective way, the study recommends strengthening incentives to “actively manage balancing groups” and shortening timeframes for auctioning balancing reserves. In addition, monitoring the security of supply should “reflect reality and account for the effects of the internal energy market and the contributions of renewables and flexible customers,” it said.
Read the report in German, with an abstract in English here.
Read the article in PV Magazine in German here.
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung
Baden-Württemberg suggests variable power tariffs for private households
The state of Baden-Württemberg is suggesting that the federal government change the way private households are charged for power, regional newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung reports. Those that use efficient appliances should get a break, in order to encourage private households to participate more actively in the Energiewende, the minister for consumer protection from the Greens-led coalition in Baden-Württemburg said ahead of a meeting of state ministers for consumer protection in Osnabrück.
Read the article in German here.
