In the media: Testing overhead lines for electric trucks
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Can overhead lines electrify freight traffic?
Industry giant Siemens is testing the electrification of freight transport with overhead power lines on a two-kilometre track north of Berlin, reports Christopher Schrader in Süddeutsche Zeitung. “The system can halve the energy consumption of trucks and reduce CO2 emissions by 95 percent if we use electricity from renewable sources,” project head Martin Birkner told the paper. He said a network of overhead lines could be developed step by step in Germany, starting with pilot projects on key routes. Similar pilot projects are under construction at Los Angeles port and in Sweden, according to the paper.
Read the article in German here.
Handelsblatt
“No transition without fairness”
The new design for the power market must create a level playing field for all technologies, writes Stefan Hartung, head of German multinational engineering and electronics company Bosch, in a commentary for Handelsblatt. He says the rules for generation capacities to supplement renewables are tailored for gas-fired power stations but don’t fit small and flexible solutions like battery systems. “This effectively prevents competition for the best technology,” writes Hartung. He says the government’s white paper on power market design also neglects heat and power cogeneration and smart metering.
Read a CLEW factsheet about the white paper on the design of the power market here.
Frankfurter Rundschau
Prominent energy policy veteran leaves Friends of the Earth over row about Energiewende
One of Germany’s most prominent Green energy policy veterans has left environmental group Friends of the Earth Germany in a row about the Energiewende, reports Joachim Wille in Frankfurter Rundschau. Former Green Party parliamentarian Hans-Josef Fell, one of the architects of Germany’s renewable energy law (EEG), publicly declared that the Bavarian section of the group (BUND) endangered the nuclear exit and the Energiewende with its fight against power lines and local renewable projects for environmental reasons. BUND head Hubert Weiger called Fell’s accusation that BUND was partly to blame for the slowdown in renewable construction “absurd”.
“Siemens receives three onshore wind orders in UK and Ireland”
Siemens’ Wind Power and Renewables Division will construct, install and commission 52 wind turbines at three separate onshore projects in Scotland and Ireland. In total, the three wind projects are expected to supply enough electricity to 100,000 households, according to a press release.
Read the Siemens press release here
Federal Foreign Office
“Who is Who of the Energiewende in Germany”
The Foreign Office has updated its English language brochure “Who is Who of the Energiewende in Germany”. It contains contacts for the Energiewende in politics, industry, civil society and research – including an entry for the Clean Energy Wire.
Download the publication in English here.
