In the media: Renewables produce 32 percent of power in first half of 2015
Süddeutsche Zeitung
“Summer, sun and sorrows”
There has never been more green energy in Germany’s grid than in the first half of this year, state secretary Uwe Beckmeyer from the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy said at an energy conference in Munich, the Süddeutsche Zeitung writes. 32 percent of German power production came from renewable sources, according to Beckmeyer. Despite this record, German politicians and other countries remain wary of CO2 emissions and the fact that 50 percent of Germany’s power generation still comes from lignite and hard coal, the authors Markus Balser and Michael Bauchmüller report. As the share of renewables in the power mix continues to increase, transforming the grid and distributing costs among all consumers remains one of the challenges ahead.
Read an online version of the article in German here.
Find provisional calculations of renewables' share in power production by Fraunhofer ISE here.
Reuters
“Bavaria says Germany must curb renewable energy costs”
Germany should reduce financial support for renewable power sources, Bavaria’s energy minister Ilse Aigner said in Munich, Vera Eckert reports for Reuters. “Germany’s energy transition must not become a decisive disadvantage and a risk to our welfare,” said Aigner, who is a member of the CSU, the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU. By 2016, the federal government will agree on reform measures to the renewable energy act, which governs financial incentives for renewable power producers.
Read the article in English here.
Read a CLEW dossier on power prices and competitiveness in Germany here.
dpa / Die Welt
“Power company crisis hits Ruhr area badly”
Business difficulties for Germany’s large utilities like RWE are creating hardships for many towns and communities in North Rhine-Westphalia, says a dpa article published in Die Welt. Not only is municipal tax intake from utilities decreasing, but many towns like Essen in the Ruhr area are also shareholders of RWE. This means they are also suffering from falling share prices and reductions in dividend payouts. The result is that Essen is deep in the red, the article says.
Read the article in German here.
Enercon / Energiequelle / Recharge News
“Europe’s biggest battery storage plant starts operations”
German wind turbine manufacturer Enercon and regional wind park developer Energiequelle have inaugurated a 10MW energy storage plant at Feldheim, near Berlin. According to a press release, the storage facility is the biggest of its kind in Europe. It is designed to stabilise the grid of transmission system operator 50 Hertz.
Read the press release in German here.
Read the article (behind pay wall) in English here.
