One of the reasons is the failed policy of leaving the working feed-in tariff in favor of an experiment with auctions. Said experiment has failed in a spectacular way. As a part of my job I follow...
While the solar industry will welcome the move, the feed-in tariff paid to small systems is still reducing thanks to the volume of new capacity installed every quarter. Announcing a wide-ranging...
“The German Government has missed all three goals, which it has linked with the introduction of auctions: Neither has it reached its installation targets nor have the auctions achieved...[more]
“The German Government has missed all three goals, which it has linked with the introduction of auctions: Neither has it reached its installation targets nor have the auctions achieved...
“It has not reached its installation targets, nor have the auctions achieved cost-effective results, and the diversity of players has suffered since the beginning of 2017, calling into question the...
We know exactly that the fixed feed-in tariff in place until a couple of years ago has worked very well to increase speed of adoption. We also know that the recent policy changes have been an...
I just read “Are auctions to blame for the lagging pace of renewable energy deployment” by Toby Couture. The answer is of course yes, as anybody paying attention knows. But Couture makes a couple of...
The evidence is in, and it is unequivocal: the growth in renewable energy deployment around the world has stalled. . . This top-down model of electricity sector development is one reason utilities...
Higher prices, as we know from behavioural psychology and from real life, do not automatically lead to behavioural changes. Rather, habituation effects often occur at a higher price level. Smoking is...
Excellent news from the EU Court of Justice. In a judgment published yesterday, the EU Commission power grab asserting the right to decide about German renewable energy legislation has been rejected....
Germany is often praised as being the frontrunner in the transition to renewable energy. It is shutting down its nuclear power plants by 2022, and their capacity will be replaced by renewables....
That’s almost 2.5% of the 53 GW China added last year. I am so old, I remember when it was the market who decided on how much solar to add. I also remember that Germany added much more solar than...
If you want conclusive proof that a shift to auction models will delay and brake renewable energy development, one could not ask for much more. Meanwhile, China invested $126.6 billion with most of...
Depending on size, the fixed feed-in tariffs for private and commercial systems will range from €0.1028/kWh to €0.118/kWh. For other projects, the tariff is €0.0818/kWh in August.
The move to an auction based system is responsible for the big slowdown in renewable deployment in Germany over the last couple of years. Now it will cause the additional problem of disturbing the...
I am not sure if this will help reduce costs. But judging from the German experience, it will be a great way to slow down the speed of increasing the renewable percentage. That’s because any auction...
The study thus basically further documents the real reason for the shift from feed-in tariffs to auctions: it wasn’t about price, as lots of people assume; the goal was to give policymakers a way to...
Germany's groundbreaking law on feeding renewably-generated electricity into the grid came about because of an unlikely alliance of two politicians from opposite poles of the political spectrum:...[more]
The fixed preferential tariff for new onshore wind capacity built outside tenders in Germany will be EUR 73.1 (USD 86.7) per MWh for wind farms coming online between April 1 and June 30, 2018.
Increased installation rates in Germany have triggered the maximum percentage reduction in support payment of 2.4% for the three-month period beginning 1 January 2018, reported the federal energy...
Germany must reverse latest amendments to its renewable energy legislation and continue support of combined investment in the sector with feed-in tariffs in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
The problem with auctions is that contrary to what they are sold as (more market-based model) they are removing the decision on how much new solar is built from the market to the state. There is no...
All the stats you ever wanted to know about Germany's energiewende (auf Deutsch)
German wind industry lobby group BWE president Hermann Albers (pictured) has questioned the soundness of the country’s offshore wind auction results
Despite broad public acceptance, investments in renewable energy sources in Germany and the EU have been dramatically decreasing. The failing legislation and exclusion of citizen investments in...
The main effect of auctions is to prevent growth from surpassing the volume on offer.
As of October 30, only 0.79 GW of new capacity has been added this year. Germany’s critics are once again hailing the imminent demise of this nation’s renewable revolution. What happened to Germany’s...
Another question is, if the auctions outcomes have been analyzed so little, why are so many policymakers convinced of their greatness?
Two the German States want to stretch the period for paying back the funds invested in renewable over a longer time frame.
At the beginning of the month, Germany’s Network Agency announced record-low prices in the least round of bids. But only a quarter of what was auctioned off in April 2015 has gone up at all.
Anyway, if there is a feed-in tariff for mine gas, there is really no reason not to have one for power to gas hydrogen as well.
So I was wondering if there was any way to use a feed-in tariff system to boost the power to gas sector, just as a feed-in tariff system has successfully brought solar to scale up quickly.
The German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) says that while solar PV installation figures will not return to anything like previous levels under the new EEG, FITs will still be in place, although...
But to keep a steady hand on the rise in renewable power, a “deployment corridor” will set limits on how much renewables capacity may be added per year.
Last Wednesday, the German cabinet finalized the details of what will become known as the EEG 2016. An astonishingly wide range of commenters agree on one thing: it’s bad.
Öko-Institut and DWI have produced a new cost indicator for industry. The researchers find that German industry bills are down by 10 percent relative to 2010, the year before Chancellor Merkel’s...
For example, Germany could keep up the feed-in tariffs and completely drop the surcharge system, leaving it to the market to work that part out. The misguided move to an auction system seems to...
It’s easy to get this story wrong: a lower EU court has ruled that German feed-in tariffs from the 2012 Renewable Energy Act (EEG) constitute state aid, as do the rules for industry exemptions. One...
This chapter in The Triple Challenge for Europe focuses on the German Energiewende which was designed as a long-term strategy in support of a transition to sustainability in energy supply. It was...
It’s not hard to understand why the German government is happy about its pilot PV auctions. . . But prices would also have come down to the same extent with feed-in tariffs.
Germany added a mere 50.4 megawatts of solar in February, but much of that was simply newly registered, not newly built. The UK market, Europe’s biggest last year, also slowed down considerably.
It is also clear that the auction model is further away from a market model than a feed-in tariff. Under a feed-in tariff, the question of how much new capacity is installed is left to decision by...
It was fun while it lasted, but China has reportedly reached 43 gigawatts, compared to just under 40 gigawatts in Germany. The Germans have lost their status as the largest PV country in terms of...
However, the international Energiewende reporting makes me want to rub my eyes. If one is to believe those reports, industry is fleeing because energy costs are going through the roof.
In an assessment of the German energy transition, US environmentalist Carl Pope says that the policy switch from feed-in tariffs to auctions – which Germany does not yet even have for wind power –...
The second round of auctions for photovoltaics apparently produced the lowest bids in history worldwide – so low that they could not be built. Bidders are gaming the system.
The winners have not been announced yet, but we do know that there will once again be far more losers than winners. The government nonetheless speaks of a “success.”
The chart below shows the breakdown of the renewable energy surcharge. In particular, it highlights that expenditures for renewable energy (the feed-in tariff, green section) were not the main cost...
If we are going to talk about the technical need for utilities as aggregators, we should admit that the people who brought about this transition over the past 25 years will be demoted as market...
The feed-in tariff, or "FiT", is financed through a levy on the electricity bills of households and small enterprises. It is not paid out of public budgets, nor does it diminish fiscal revenue. By...
The desperate attempt to reframe the Energiewende as an “energy mess” shows what the real threat is: Germany is poised to prove that a low-carbon future without nuclear is the best option for a...
Second, there has been no surge in coal power during the nuclear phase-out. In fact, total coal power production (both lignite and hard coal) fell by six percent last year alone.
Germans consume only a third as much electricity as Americans do. Their power bills are thus not so large.
So I noted with interest the failure of the first test case for the auction model. The auction price turned out to be above what the current feed-in tariff is, as this article at PV Magazine...
So the auction has just resulted in a large group of losers, a higher price than with feed-in tariffs, and a two-year postponement of the roughly 150 megawatts just awarded.
In a nutshell, the UK overpays wind power in particular because big utilities with big expectations for returns run the show, whereas new players and communities have largely driven the German wind...
The call for a coal phaseout has been in the foreground for the past month in Germany. It all started with a leak about a discussion proposal to switch off between 5 and 10 GW of coal plant capacity,...
When it comes to renewable energy however, a large majority of farmers are staunch supporters of the Energiewende and the fast development of renewables – an outcome that may surprise people in...
Morris also goes ahead and compares these different costs per kWh to the feed-in tariffs for wind and solar. And he finds that the feed-in tariffs are insufficient for some sites, but way too high...
This would put us at about 185 TWh at the end of 2015. Depending on how domestic demand develops, this should translate into a 31-32% RE share of gross domestic electricity demand. It would not only...
At the time, Hans-Josef Fell had high hopes. He thought in 1996 that Germany might be able to reach a whopping 80 MW a year if that principle of a feed-in tariff was extended to the whole country.
One of two succinct and hard-hitting presentations by Volkmar Lauber explaining the abrupt U-turn of the German government on the use of feed-in tariffs to drive the Energiewende. Lauber has been...[more]
EEG 2014 is a break with the past, not a continuation. It means the victory of those forces that objected to EEG logic in 2000-2004-2008-2011 and almost prevailed in 2012 but were stopped by the...[more]
Electricity from 40 to 500 kW arrays will then cost 2.64 cents per kilowatt-hour less under feed-in tariffs than under direct marketing – all in the name of phasing out feed-in tariffs in order to...
This report is a comprehensive study taking an in-depth look at Germany’s solar support programs and how the United States can benefit in the long term from the experiences of the world’s leading...
This may come as a surprise for many, but the new EEG 2.0 will lead to increased feed-in tariffs/marketing premiums for newly completed PV installations as of 1 August 2014.
As Lenz also recently pointed out, a German court ruled last week that German feed-in tariffs are not state aid, though Brussels is not bound to uphold the ruling of a German court. Indeed, as the...
When the feed-in tariff was enacted in the first place, that was done by a democratically elected coalition of the Green and the Social Democrat Parties. When it was ended in 2014, it was done on...
Energy Post repeats the unfounded notion that Germany has generous subsidies. This is wrong – and the difference matters: the German system of feed-in tariffs favours small companies and...
The German Federal Court of Justice has published a decision from June 25 on an attempt to resist the German feed-in tariff system.
It is becoming increasingly clear that no German politician is holding the baton for renewables policy in Germany, especially after the recent amendments were approved on a Friday. Today, we take a...
The Bundestag just voted overwhelmingly in favor of the governing coalition’s proposes to change the country’s renewables policy. The grand coalition of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats got...
Craig Morris at Renewables International has pointed out a startling chart in IZES (Institut für ZukunftsEnergieSysteme) report comparing auction systems to feed-in tariffs in Germnay. (Auctions are...[more]
In an international comparison, reverse auctions seem to be a useful way of slowing down the transition to renewables and ensuring that a small oligopoly of firms dominate the market.
placeholderI’ve been posting updates on local ownership of renewable energy in Germany since early 2011, and it’s abundantly clear that the Germans have yet to back down from their commitment to...
Germany's Federal Council (Bundesrat) has proposed over 100 changes to Energy and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel's (SPD) legislation to overhaul the nation's system of feed-in tariffs.
The parties of the German government have introduced a proposal for surcharge industry rebates on May 20. I would like to highlight and briefly discuss two points.
Here is yet another reason why the reductions German energy intensive industry gets when paying surcharges are not subsidies, and therefore none of the EU Commission’s business.
Even when the foreign press reports on the correct numbers, a lot of the terms can still be slightly misleading. Today, we focus on a report at Reuters to help the international audience understand...
While the German government does not specifically plan to change the design of feed-in tariffs for PV this year, the application of the renewables surcharge to solar power directly consumed does...
Three German federal states have reached a deal with German Economics and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) whereby only part of the feed-in tariff surcharge will be applied to new solar...
As an American living in the EU, I sometimes marvel at the ability of Europeans to adopt best practices from each other. Likewise, I marvel at the tendency of Americans to label foreign best...
In the same way, the feed-in tariff sets a “minimum wage” for solar, wind, and other renewable energy. That means that buyers of that electricity need to pay more than under a model that would leave...
The German government just announced that they have sued against the EU Commission decision to open a “state aid” procedure against the German feed-in tariff law.
Baake says the proposal would work the same as the current corridor for solar does; there is no limit on how much can be installed, but if more than the upper "limit" is built in a year, feed-in...
Brussels is increasingly investigating feed-in tariffs and says it wants to switch to auctions, ostensibly to keep prices from rising further. Ironically, the outcome of the DG Competition's...
Some time ago one might have had the impression that the German word Energiewende would make the leap to the English language as Kindergarten, Rucksack and Autobahn have done. Ever since Fukushima...
The German Government is also critical of the substance of the draft guidelines. They say that it is too early for transiting to an auction model immediately. - See more at:...
So, in short, the proposals in these “Guidelines” should be firmly rejected. And just as a matter of law, Germany is in no way obliged to follow these Guidelines, since the German feed-in tariff...
State Aid guidelines should be a tool to help implement agreed EU energy policy. But this proposal contains remarkably restrictive measures for how member states can support renewable technologies in...
German energy coop lobby group DGRV says that the current proposals for changes in energy policy would put an end to the Energiewende as we know it – as a grassroots movement from the 1970s.
Feed-in tariffs only pay for power produced, which depends on the weather – and no one can guarantee that.
MYTH: Germany has figured out that the feed-in tariff does not work, so they are canceling it and opting for net-metering instead. . . FACT: The German feed-in tariff has largely been a remarkable...
Before the election, the CDU was the party advocating a faster transition, and the FDP coalition partner was always hitting the brakes full force. . . Now the CDU is the slower partner, and the SPD...
Over 16,000 demonstrators from across Germany took the streets of Berlin to demonstrate for renewal energies. They tired to send a clear signal to the government to move toward the defined goals.
Renewable Energy Consultant Bernard Chabot has published his latest analysis of the German solar photovoltaic (PV) market and policies, showing that PV market control is possible by carefully...
As coalition discussions between Germany's CDU/CSU and SPD progress, a coalition of leading renewable and environmental leaders urges the SPD to remember its roots and continue the rapid development...
The real costs of supporting renewable energy have only increased from 2.39 to 2.54 cents/kWh, i.e. by just 6.3%.
Major English-language media have been propagating a false narrative about the stunning success of Germany’s transition to renewable energy: the Energiewende. To hear them tell it, the transition has...
Germany's Network Agency has announced the PV installation figures for August, confirming that the country remains on course to greatly exceed the government's target corridor of 2.5-3.5 gigawatts...
Last month, I mentioned the recent proposal that Germany should throw out its feed-in tariffs and switch to a quota system. Via e-mail (would everyone please use the comment boxes below so we can...
According to calculations by the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE), the EEG surcharge for 2014 will increase from its current level of 5.27 cent/ kilowatt-hour to 6.42 cent/ kilowatt-hour...
A huge opportunity exists for landowners, especially farm owners, to band together and not only offset their own energy usage (to generate savings) but also to earn additional revenue in the long-run...
Since 2003, electricity exports from Germany have increased considerably. Imports declined sharply in 2012 from their relatively high 2011 levels. Winter months are traditionally characterised by...
Over the past two years, Renewables International has repeatedly argued that there will be no shift to coal power as a result of the nuclear phaseout. So it's nice to see that other independent...
Germany's Network Agency has announced that feed-in tariffs for solar will be reduced by 1.8 percent each month over the next three months because the country continues to install more solar than the...
Auch der Ausbau der Windenergie konnte 2012 einen deutli-chen Schub verzeichnen. Neuanlagen mit einer Leistung von 2.440 MW wurden zugebaut – eine beträchtliche Steigerung gegenüber 2011 (2.007 MW)....
In English, the current German energy policy debate sounds like no one likes the Energiewende. The Social Democrats and the Greens, who first implemented the Renewable Energy Act, don't like what...
For one thing, German policy-makers played a dominant role in the evolution of feed-in tariffs (FITs) for renewables (the term is actually an Anglicization of the German “Stromeinspeisungsgesetz”)....
Apparently my article last October documenting the growth of renewables in Germany while nuclear generation continues to decline got under the skin of pro-nuclear bloggers. So at the request of a...[more]
Jordan's recent move toward feed-in tariffs adds to the controversy surrounding the role of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) in future energy policy. The respected German Institute of Economics...[more]
What would it take to transform the whole country’ electric grid–to shut down all of its old power plants, and move to a system that generates electricity exclusively from renewable resources? Rick...
The latest energy statistics suggests that Germany is doing much better in restraining coal used to generate electricity compared to the UK. Yet, to read the British press you would automatically...
German Environment Minister Peter Altmaier said on Friday his country would never return to nuclear energy, hitting back at a top EU official who doubted Berlin's commitment to phase out nuclear...
Using current data of the Working Group on Renewable Energy - Statistics (AGEE-Stat)
Germans installed 1.3 million solar systems last year and generated 28 TWh of electricity in 2012, setting a new installation record. . .
Nearly 2% of Land Area Set Aside for Wind Energy Not 100%, Not 200%, But 300% Renewable Energy by 2020 Says Government The German state of Schleswig-Holstein recently approved doubling the land...[more]
Over the past decade, Germany has successfully boosted renewable energy resources which today power 25% of all electricity demand. . . “The Energiewende is a bottom up switch that is driven by...
Since 2000, Germany has converted 25 percent of its power grid to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. The architects of the clean energy movement Energiewende, which translates...
"Our big utilities completely ignored renewables," he explained. "In the beginning, the Energiewende was driven almost entirely by individuals. Over half of our renewable power is still produced by...
According to preliminary figures not yet published by the BDEW, an association representing power and water providers, Germany exported 12.3 terawatt-hours of electricity in the first 9 months of...
The German decision to pursue a nuclear-free future was, however, anything but precipitous or unmindful of climate change. Because of a combination of historical and political factors, Germany has in...
That quote comes from a presentation given by an IEA representative at the 27th PV-SEC in September, where the keynote address was "What is a fair price for PV electricity?" and a number of...
The German Environment Ministry has compiled a helpful page on recent development of energy costs for use in school lessons. For anyone paying attention, there is not ever so much new information....
Poor Energiewende – no one seems to love it. The current governing coalition consists of the two parties that have traditionally opposed the switch to renewables over the past two decades, and lots...
An article today in German weekly Die Zeit reveals how completely overblown the likelihood is of power outages resulting from the country's Energiewende. . .
The constant necessity for federal investigations to prevent fraud (see Treasury watchdog probes solar tax grant program) in the US tax credit and grant program would generally not arise under a...[more]
In the case of wind energy in Germany, the race to develop new capacity has been accelerated by access to a feed-in-tariff and by policies that prioritize delivery of renewable power. . .
Debunking Another Myth about Germany's Electricity Revolution--Solar Energy Now Rivals Hydro Generation--Renewable Generation Now Exceeds Generation from Hard Coal . . .[more]
Energy expert Bernard Chabot takes a look at the PV installation data released on Friday by Germany's Network Agency for August, which shows that both the market volume and average system size...
The following text accompanies the brief presentation by Paul Gipe at 2012 Husum WindEnergy exhibition and conference in Husum, Germany. [more]
German feed-in tariffs (FITs) for the generation of electricity from renewable sources, under the Act on Granting Priority to Renewable Energy Sources ("the EEG"), are entering their third phase of...
No, but you wouldn't know that from the press. Craig Morris explains what really is going on with German's coal plants. . .
That model adopted by Ontario and many European countries, most successfully in Germany, is a fixed price model. Or as it is more commonly known, a feed-in tariff. Feed-in tariffs guarantee a set...
French expert Bernard Chabot analyzes and comments on the potential impacts on PV arrays size diversity of the PV installations in Germany from 2009 to the end of June 2012. . .
Currently, renewable energy on average is still more expensive on electricity markets than fossil power whose external costs are not considered in market prices. While private households as well as...
In the early 1990s, Germany had virtually no renewable energy, so I was astonished to learn that in 2010 Germany -- slightly smaller in area than Montana and hardly a Sunbelt--generated almost half...
The author traces the evolution of feed-in tariffs - the most successful and most widely used support mechanism for renewable electricity - in Germany, Spain and France. He reveals increasing...
A thorough evisceration of a poorly researched, poorly written, sneering critique of Germany's energiewende by someone who actually knows what he's talking about--a must read. . .
For the first time ever, Germany has implemented retroactive changes to its feed-in tariffs, though there are a few exceptions. Ground-mounted systems, for instance, that were connected to the grid...
Solar industry welcomes the selective changes to cuts in support achieved throughobjections by federal states. Corrections, however, do not go far enough. . .
The Mediation Committee of the Bundestag (Parliament) and the Bundesrat (Federal Council) has finally reached an agreement on the controversial issue of solar feed-in tariff cuts. The agreement...
Electricity generation from renewable energy in Germany is reducing power prices and has left the country with a market whose design no longer works, according to Stadtwerke Leipzig GmbH. Renewable...
French consultant and sustainable energy expert Bernard Chabot updates Germany's PV installation data in terms of system size vis-à-vis market share, compares it with the 2009-2011 distribution and...
BEE-Positionspapier zur Mitteilung der EUKommission 06. Juni
Germany's long support for wind and solar energy is delivering zero-cost electricity at times. In contrast, the UK's new energy policy seeks to underwrite the rising cost of nuclear. . .
French consultant and sustainable energy expert Bernard Chabot analyzes Germany's PV installation data in terms of system size vis-à-vis market share and draws some generally applicable conclusions....
On Friday, the German chamber of Parliament that represents states' rights overwhelmingly rejected the governing coalition's proposal to drastically change feed-in tariffs for photovoltaics. Now, the...
The fact that Germany, in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, redoubled its efforts to phase out nuclear energy has nothing to do with hysteria or postwar angst. On the contrary, a majority...
New payment rates for solar PV systems in Germany 2012. . .
Homeowners, Small Businesses, and Farmers Penalized[more]
Here is a pair of graphs that demonstrate most vividly the merit order effect and the impact that solar is having on electricity prices in Germany; and why utilities there and elsewhere are desperate...
Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power after Fukushima has been painted by some international observers as “environmental vandalism” and a “panicked overreaction." Critics argue that the...
Yes, the Germans Are Cutting Solar PV Tariffs Yes, the Solar PV Tariffs Do Need to Be Cut No, It's Not the End of the World[more]
In an article published at Slate.com, Danish political scientist Bjørn Lomborg chimes in on how Germany is allegedly abandoning solar. He may not describe the situation in Germany well, but his...
In a startling development widely reported across Europe in the English-, French-, and German-language press, France imported electricity to meet peak demand during a brutal cold snap February 7,...[more]
Germany currently has the highest power prices within the EU – by far, in fact. But a recent survey conducted by the German Association of Municipal Utilities finds that an overwhelming majority of...
International Community Power Conference Set for 3-5 July in Bonn, Germany 51% of German Renewables Now Owned by Its Own Citizens January 5, 2012 By Paul Gipe Germany, a country where 51%...[more]
International Community Power Conference Set for 3-5 July in Bonn, Germany 51% of German Renewables Now Owned by Its Own Citizens[more]
Solar PV will be cheaper than German Offshore Wind California Equivalent Tariffs Reach 16 US cents/kWh 57% Reduction in Solar Tariffs in 8 Years German 2011 Solar PV Installations to Approach...[more]
Recent data shows Germany continues to export electricity despite closing seven nuclear reactors. Meanwhile Bloomberg reports that continued renewable energy expansion in Germany is driving down...[more]
Here you will find a collection of and information on the most important legislation on the support schemes for electricity from renewable sources and grid issues within the EU 27. . .
Solar PV Generates More Electricity than Hydro Renewable Energy Nears 21% of Supply[more]
Gives Germany "Best-in-Class" Rating for Transparency, Longevity, & Certainty Renewables to Contribute 217 TWh in 2020[more]
Ups Renewable Energy Target: Between 35% and 40% by 2020 Raises Payments for Biomass, Geothermal, & Offshore Wind Applies Standard Degression to Wind on Land and Solar PV[more]
116-page official report on the progress and cost of Germany's renewable energy revolution. . .
Expects to Boost Distributed Generation May Raise Geothermal Tariffs €0.10 ($0.14) per Kilowatt-hour[more]
The Conservative German government has issued a 14-page document outlining how Germany can close all its reactors by 2017 and keep the lights on. The report, Hintergrundpapier zur...[more]
German Wind more Stable Year-to-Year than Fukushima Reactors[more]
One-Quarter Million New Solar-Electric Systems Installed New World Record: 7,400 MW of Solar Photovoltaics Installed in One Year Renewable Electricity Penetration More than 30% of Supply on...[more]
The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has recently published a new report: The Myth of Green Jobs - The European Experience. It claims that clean energy technologies increase energy prices and...
Brief Analysis on the Current Debate about Costs and Benefits of Expanding the Use of Renewable Energies in Electricity Generation (Wuppertal's English-language rebuttal to right-wing, think tank...
Conservatives Increasing New Renewables from 50% to 100% of Electricity Highest Concentration of Wind in Germany--Most Locally Owned As Much Wind Generation as California[more]
Act Revising the Legislation on Renewable Energy Sources in the Electricity Sector and Amending Related Provisions – Renewable Energy Sources Act – EEG 2009
World's Largest Solar Plant Completed in Ontario[more]
The German Bank for Reconstruction (KfW), the same bank that backs much of Germany's wind and solar plants, has been named the world's safest bank.
In what is becoming a regular occurrence, Germany has again increased its target for renewable energy. In a meeting today the German cabinet voted to up the target to 20% of renewable energy in...[more]
Installing More per Month than California per Year[more]
RWE, one of Germany's biggest utilities, has announced it will not build any more new coal plants. RWE currently gets 2/3 of its generation from coal. RWE by 2025 will get only 1/4 of its...[more]
New German Solar PV Target: 2,500 to 3,500 MW per Year! Expects another Record Year--4,500 MW or More Possible[more]
In 2008 Germany produced 15% of its electricity with renewables. The German government estimates that it can supply 92% of its electricity from renewables in the future. Of the 93 TWh or...[more]
The following are just some of the data found in a report by the German government on the development of renewable energy. The data should put the lie to (but probably won't) il-informed or...[more]
Craig Morris German PV Investment Summary [more]
The government in Germany has changed from the coalition that created the Feed-In Tariffs to a conservative coalition that opposed the FIT at the time, and favors a return to nuclear power and...[more]
The following is a translation of a press release from the German Ministry of the Environment. The full report can be found at the link below. In a report on the "energy balance of renewable...[more]
The RWI study is therefore roughly 50 percent off the mark according to her calculation, i.e. solar is not that expensive. . .
The amount of Carbon Dioxide Offset in Germany during 2007 by Germany's Renewable Energy Sources Act and other sources by the German Ministry of the Environment, page 16. German renewable...[more]
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has never been known as a hot bed of progressive thought--it has long been dismissive of renewable energy for example--or accurate oil price forecasts for...[more]
The Bundestag, Germany's House of Commons, has approved new renewable energy tariffs. The revised tariffs now move to the Bundesrat, Germany's upper chamber. The action is an expected part of the...[more]
February 5, 2008 Strom Rebel Josef Pesch listened to a BBC radio discussion titled "Costing the Earth" on the cost of renewable energy programs in Europe that led him to the following...[more]
Substantially Increases Tariffs for Some Technologies and Further Increases Renewable Targets[more]
Direct and indirect employment in the German renewable energy industry reached 214,000 in 2006 according to a recent study by Germany's Ministry for the Environment (BMU). The study also found...[more]
Protecting creation. Lutheran church with a roof top of solar PV in the village of Schönau, Baden-Württemberg. In Germany, Walter Fischer argues, you can install solar for free. Yes,...[more]
Photon magazine is reporting that 1,150 MW of solar photovoltaics were installed in Germany in 2006. If confirmed this another world record for the German solar industry and the first time that...[more]
Architect of German Feed Law Begins North American Tour[more]
The fascinating story auf Deutsch of Wolfang Daniels, Greens, and Matthias Engelsbeger, CSU, cooperation to create Germany's first feed-in law, the Stromeinspeisungsgesetz (StrEG) of 1991.
In a powerful display of how electricity feed laws can drive rapid development of solar energy, Germany installed $4 billion CAD of solar photovoltaics (PV) last year. This follows nearly $3...[more]
Sample contract for solar PV proposed Photon magazine. . .
This is an English abstract of the original German document. Abstract: Electricity in Germany is today approximately one-third cheaper than in middle of the 1990s. This is due to the...[more]
In comparison to quota systems, minimum price systems clearly perform better; they do not only perform better; they are more efficient too. And all the more so when it comes to wind energy. . .
In 2004 renewable sources of energy generated 55.9 TWh, or 9.3% of electricity consumption. This was up from 7.9% in 2003. Last year for the first time wind generation exceeded generation from...[more]
This is an English abstract of the original German document by Dr. Olav Hohmeyer. Abstract: In this paper Dr. Hohmeyer explores whether the model of external costs can serve as a justification...[more]
This is an English abstract of the original German document: Bericht über den Stand der Markteinführung und der Kostenentwicklung von Anlagen zur Erzeugung von Strom aus erneuerbaren Energien...[more]
Copyright 2002 by Wilson Rickerson. All rights reserved. This paper is an introduction for English speakers to Germany's successful wind energy policies. The author, Wilson Rickerson, worked as...[more]
The following is a translation of the actual text of the original German Electricity Feed Law or Stromeinspeisungsgesetz. I have long since forgotten who translated the text. My apologies to the...[more]
Opponents of renewables are using the increase to claim that renewables are too expensive and should be stopped, and they are suddenly concerned about the impact on the poor – even as German power...
Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday she was determined to push forward with a plan for rapidly expanding Germany’s renewable energy supply, despite criticism from within her own government. . .
A Comparison of the Renewable Obligation in England and Wales and the Feed-In System in Germany. . .
