Year: 2015
Civic participation in the Energiewende: What Germany can learn from Denmark
Traditionally, Denmark has been a frontrunner in community energy. Due to policy changes, the civil society has had to look for new, more integrated business models. The Danish experience can serve as a blueprint for the future of Germany’s cooperatives, argues Boris Gotchev.
The Polish dance with nuclear
Polish authorities find it hard to decide what to do with their current nuclear program, once announced as the great hope for its energy system. No decision at the moment looks like a deliberate strategy although it will not solve the problems of Polish energy supply, as Michał Olszewski explains.
Few new German energy co-ops in 2014
According to a study published in January, only 29 citizen energy cooperatives were founded in Germany last year. The German Citizen Energy Alliance says the low number is a sign that the energy sector is being handed back to big business. Craig Morris investigates.
The French energy transition and the Energiewende – a comparison
Repeatedly, critics of Germany’s energy transition say that France’s transition is a better model to follow. A closer look, however, reveals an impressive amount of overlapping. Craig Morris and Arne Jungjohann investigate.
How is Germany integrating and balancing renewable energy today?
With renewables providing 30% of Germany’s electriticy demand, the power market needs to adapt. In the following article, author Eric Martinot provides detailed insight into technical and regulatory changes that allowed the German grid to remain highly reliable.
What electricity really costs
Green Budget Germany (FÖS), an environmental taxation organization, published an update of its study on the true cost of power in January. Craig Morris investigates.
German government did not just approve fracking
After an article in Euractiv claimed that the German government had approved fracking, the Guardian made a few phone calls, including to a French campaigner. Craig Morris says that German media have remained silent on the matter for good reason – the news item is a canard.
Renewables have made power cheaper for German industry
A study published by German university researchers for German engineering firm Siemens finds that the renewable power installations built since Fukushima have not affected the retail rate, but they have brought down wholesale rates considerably. Energy-intensive industry has benefited the most. But Craig Morris says there is something for the nuclear camp to criticize.
Capacity reserve or strategic reserve?
In mid-January, German State Secretary in the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Rainer Baake spoke at a Handelsblatt conference about the future power market design. We need to get used to a few new terms, Craig Morris explains why.