In the media: Support for research, efficiency and e-cars
Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi)
New incentive programme for energy efficiency measures
The Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) has announced a new support package to increase energy efficiency in the housing sector. The “incentive programme energy efficiency” will replace previously planned tax reductions for building insulation which the states and the federal government were unable to reach an agreement on. The programme will contribute 165 million euros annually to stimulate, for example, the installation of efficient fuel cell heating in apartment blocks.
See the BMWi press release in German here.
dpa/Süddeutsche Zeitung
“Grid operator Tennet warns Bavaria: Time is running out”
Grid operator Tennet has urged the federal government and Bavaria to finally settle the dispute over new electricity superhighways to transport renewable power from Germany’s north to the south of the country, Süddeutsche Zeitung and dpa report. “We need a decision now, definitely before the summer,” said Tennet manager Lex Hartman. Company head Urban Keussen warned: “We must not waste a single day.” New delays would have grave consequences because the new power lines would not be completed before the last nuclear power station goes offline in the south of Germany in 2022, warned Tennet.
See the dpa article in German here.
See a CLEW article on the new power lines here.
See a CLEW's Dossier “The energy transition and Germany’s power grid” here.
Report on energy research 2015
Public financial support for energy research has doubled in the past 10 years, a report by the BMWi says. In 2014, the federal government spent 819 million euros on research into modern energy technologies. Almost three quarters of the money went to the “development of renewable energies” and “increasing energy efficiency”, the report finds.
Download the report in German here.
Der Tagesspiegel
“Firing the rocket”
Establishing e-mobility in Germany requires three to five years of financial incentives, particularly for companies, Henning Kagermann, chairman of the National Platform Electric Mobility (NPE) told Der Tagesspiegel. “We have the cars, we have the standards, the right training and education, as well as the scientists – we only lack the buyers,” he told journalist Henrik Mortsiefer. However, within 10 years, a new generation of batteries will probably see demand for e-cars increase significantly, Kagermann said. Electric vehicles with a range of 400-500 kilometres not costing more than a petrol or diesel car would be very attractive to buyers, he explained.
See the article in German here.
