Germany aims to be carbon neutral by 2045 by shutting down its nuclear power plants and reducing emissions.

The country aims to phase out nuclear power by 2022 and coal by 2038.

The shutdown of nuclear power plants has raised energy security concerns, as Germany relies on lignite and natural gas for 45% of its electricity.

Germany's energy supply has been significantly impacted by the Russian-Ukrainian war, as it relies heavily on Russian fossil fuel imports.

The war has highlighted Germany's need to transition to renewable energy, prompting its first liquefied natural gas terminal in 2022.

The country aims to meet 80% of its energy demand with renewables by 2030.

Germany's energy transition is being slowed by a lack of grid infrastructure.

In December 2022, 49% of Germany's electricity came from coal as the country copes with the loss of nuclear energy.

The country lacks enough clean energy to maintain power supply on cloudy days.

Germany's focus remains on renewable energy, with no push to restart nuclear reactors.

The country has allocated over 260 billion euros to promote renewable energy and reduce fossil fuel dependence.

Reintegrating nuclear power into Germany's energy grid poses significant technical challenges and uncertain impacts on renewable energy goals.

Germany's energy market is shifting towards renewables and away from fossil fuels.

The country is investing in hydrogen fuel cells, with companies like Lhyfe receiving support.

Germany plans to spend €20 billion on hydrogen by 2027, including subsidies for 10 GW of hydrogen-ready turbines.

Germany remains committed to becoming carbon neutral, with energy storage technologies playing a key role.

The country is exploring new energy storage technologies, including iron flow batteries.

Long-duration energy storage technologies, like those developed by ESS, are essential for net-zero energy systems.

Germany's grid modernization is necessary to support renewable energy and energy storage.

Germany aims to be carbon neutral by 2045 by shutting down its nuclear power plants and reducing emissions.

Title:

Content: World Vision: France and Germany seek to develop EU participation to follow
March 05, 2023 00: 04
Eastern Network Television
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The EU does not regulate the distribution of energy production methods in member countries, and member countries have to make their own plans.
After the Fukushima nuclear plant accident in Japan, France maintained nuclear power generation, while Germany abandoned nuclear development to develop green energy.
In terms of nuclear power, the French Senate approved the construction of 6 to 14 additional nuclear power plants and increased nuclear power to 50% of total energy consumption, in addition to the crisis of natural gas and oil supply shortage caused by sanctions against Russia, the other is that France has not yet developed a high level of green energy, and France will only gradually increase renewable energy after the energy crisis is resolved.
In particular, France has made extraordinary progress in nuclear power production research in recent years, and the research of nuclear power facilities from large to small has been very successful, which is a good guarantee of stable electricity supply, production and employment.
Germany currently relies on lignite and natural gas for 45% of its electricity generation, renewables for 43.9% and nuclear for only 6%.
France relies on fossil fuels for 8.6% of its electricity generation, renewable energy for 24.5%, and nuclear energy for nearly 70%.
Although the Russian-Ukrainian war has strained Germany's current power supply and wants to extend the operation of the nuclear power plant, which was originally scheduled to close in December 2022, it is expected that the nuclear power facilities will be gradually closed, and even increased lignite power generation is now even under popular opposition.
Although France and Germany have developed nuclear energy and green energy respectively, their stability has not been overcome. When the sun is not strong, the wind is insufficient or the nuclear power plant maintenance, especially the demand for electricity in winter is very high, the production will be in short supply, and wind and solar power can not be stored.
Since Germany has also been buying French nuclear power to maintain a sufficient supply, energy experts have ironed that Germany can only allow France to maintain its nuclear facilities on sunny days.
If you look at the figures above, it is clear that Germany is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels, and whether French or German households are generally dependent on coal and oil for heating, the cost of switching to electric heating is enormous.
In terms of capital operation, wind and solar power are mostly dependent on private funds, and the power generated by the facilities can be resold. The responsibility of the government is to acquire and redistribute.
However, even in Germany, there are wind and solar power production needs to be imported into the country's affordable components, and some politicians are worried about relying on China's supply chain for development.
And France in increasing the development of nuclear power plants, there is also the treatment of nuclear waste, but also from the past packaging left in the sea, to now reasonably buried underground, both due to the technical complexity and huge investment, completely dependent on the national lead.
It seems that France will face great challenges in 2050 and Germany in 2045 to become carbon neutral.
However, the efforts and cooperation of the two countries are a reference for the development of the EU member states.
Ph.D., Freie Universität Berlin

The country aims to phase out nuclear power by 2022 and coal by 2038.

Title:

Content: Alert
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German manufacturing and energy transition are lame.
Wen Yang Shao-keung
Eurozone growth slows below expectations in second quarter
“Being the Chancellor of Germany after Merkel is like being in Schenn.
Connery later played 007. "The Economist" analogy. September 26 German election, will bring two definitive results: one is that Prime Minister Merkel, who has been in power for 16 years, will step down, and the other is that whoever becomes the successor, will face three major challenges in the German economy.
Recently, the euro has hovered at a nine-month low against the US dollar. The Wall Street Journal interpreted this as a market bet that the euro area recovery will be slower than the US.
Germany, the largest economy in the euro zone, is to blame: the German economy grew by 1.6% in the second quarter of this year, which was lower than market expectations, and “Germany ’ s economic rebound is at risk, ” Bloomberg said.
Germany ’ s weak economic rebound stems from the epidemic and shortage of raw materials in the manufacturing sector.
Volkswagen (VW), Europe ’ s largest automaker, reported a 19% drop in global car deliveries in July, the first monthly decline since the year.
The Munich-based Ifo Institute noted that German business confidence fell more in August than economists had predicted.
“The situation is actually getting worse, ” said Clemens Fuest, the director of the institute.
The first export of machinery and equipment to China
Transformation is urgently needed to remain unique
But the shortage of raw materials is only a short-term problem, and in the long run, the German economy has three structural challenges.
According to the German Machinery Equipment Manufacturing Association (VDMA) report in July this year, China's machinery and equipment exports amounted to 165 billion euros in 2020, with a global market share of about 15.8% and Germany's about 15.5%, which is the first time China has overtaken Germany in this field.
The German Federal Office for Foreign Trade and Investment even predicts that in 2021, China will increase its leading edge to more than 40 billion euros in machinery and equipment exports.
German magazine Der Spiegel quoted the agency ’ s research in August: “Chinese competitors are surpassing German exporters in more and more areas.
According to the German Institute for Economic Research (IW), the EU ’ s share of various industrial products imported from China rose from 50.7% in 2000 to 68.2% in 2019.
“In the field of machinery manufacturing, Germany may have lost its ability to compete with China, ” Der Spiegel said.
"Economist" analysis, a major advantage of Chinese manufacturing, is that the industrial sector is full of categories, products from the low end to the high-end.
In contrast, many German companies focus on niche markets, and the result of professional division of labor is the lack of a complete industrial chain that spans all fields like China.
The outbreak has led to a shortage of raw materials, which has had an impact on highly specialized German companies. Bloomberg News also pointed out that “once the supply chain that German companies normally rely on is cut off, it is difficult to find a replacement quickly. ”
Although Chinese manufacturers are catching up, Hermann Simon, the father of the invisible champion, said in an interview with Shang Zhou that the population of China is 17 times that of Germany, and 60% of the German invisible champion companies have set up factories in China. "It is inevitable that the absolute amount of money made in China will exceed that of Germany."
But Simon agrees that with the rise of China, German manufacturing still needs to be transformed, and that being “unique ” is the way to survive in the future.
“If Toyota didn ’ t sell cars today, the world wouldn ’ t be the same, ” Simon told Shang Zhou, adding that without Toyota, people would still have Nissan and Volkswagen cars to buy.
But if the German stealth champion ’ s laser machines go out of production — which are used in many factories around the world — “a large part of the world ’ s manufacturing industry will collapse. ”
Therefore, in order to maintain its superiority, German manufacturers must continue to maintain this irreplaceable.
In addition, another way out for German manufacturing is brand value.
In March, the Financial Times reported that Porsche CEO Oliver Blume said he would not consider building a factory in China, citing German manufacturing to maintain the premium capacity of the Porsche brand.
For the prestige of German manufacturing, even higher labor costs are required.
Looking at other industries, “unique ” and“ brand ” are the ways that pioneers face competition from China.
For example, the pioneers of smart phones are Apple, Samsung, in the face of the rise of China's affordable mobile phone millet, these pioneers also have to transform, either the main China can not replace, or emphasize brand value.
Made in Germany as well.
Exclusion weakens competitiveness
The Invisible Champion is down and digital is out of date.
Although Germany ’ s “invisible champions ” are irreplaceable, the reality is that their market value is not high: as the world ’ s fourth largest economy, there is no German company in the top 70 of the world ’ s top 100 companies by market capitalization.
Even unicorns — startups with a market valuation of more than $1 billion — in Europe, including Germany, are far below China and the United States.
Some analysts believe that this is the merit of the German craftsman spirit: focusing on technology and rejecting the money game of the stock market.
However, ignoring the results of market valuations will still affect the competitiveness of German companies in the long term.
Simon pointed out that one of the problems was the acquisition.
“From 2014 to 2020, China acquired 300 German companies, many of them stealth champions. ” These Chinese companies used the stock market to raise capital and then bought skilled German companies in silver bullion.
This is an adaptation of the 15th-century philosopher Nicolas Machiavel ’ s famous saying, “Technology does not bring gold, but gold always brings technology. ”
The second is research.
German companies do not attach importance to the stock market, meaning that they can only use their own money to invest in research and development, unlike those listed in China and the United States, which can use the money of investors. Bloomberg News quoted statistics: After adjusting for scale, the number of Chinese invisible champions in research and development is about three times that of their German counterparts.
“The German stealth champions must reflect on their rejection of the listing mentality.
Simon said during the weekly interview.
The deeper problem is that the German market is undervalued, reflecting that they have not kept up with the times.
In terms of cars, it is Germany's most important export, but the vast majority of these cars are built on internal combustion engines.
More and more countries are banning the sale of internal combustion engines in the future: Norway plans to phase it out by 2025, the UK by 2030, and the 27 EU member states by 2035.
In July, Wired UK described a car manufacturing hub like Germany as “probably the next Detroit. ”
In response to this trend, German Volkswagen has invested tens of billions of dollars in the transformation to electric vehicles.
But not every company has the same financial power as Volkswagen.
The backbone of Europe ’ s automotive industry consists of about 10,000 small and medium-sized parts suppliers – 1,200 of them in Germany alone.
In the electric car trend, these German products are feared to be outdated, even the invisible champion is no exception.
For example, Selzer, a family-owned business in the hills of western Germany, a 90-minute drive from Frankfurt, has been producing motor and transmission parts for the last 100 years.
The car market turned to electrification, which dealt a severe blow to its business.
Since 2018, more than half of Saize ’ s employees have been laid off; in 2020, all apprenticeships have been discontinued.
Sybille Brandenburger, an engineer who has worked at the company since she was 16 and has been there for 41 years, told Britain ’ s Wired, “We ’ re all afraid that one morning when we go to work, the door closes. ”
In addition, the wave of digitalization is sweeping the world, but Germany is the laggard.
In a recent EU report, Germany ranked 21st among the 27 EU member states and the United Kingdom for the extent to which online services are available to citizens.
“School computers are old, health authorities rely on fax machines, and town offices offer little or no online services – this is the reality in Germany in 2021, ” Deutsche Welle describes.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Hubert Barth, the former CEO of Ernst & Young Germany, as saying that some German blue-chip companies are “struggling ” in their transition to digital.
Some German companies are trying to catch up with digitalization. For example, sports brand leader Adidas has created smart manufacturing in Germany, which was once seen as a model for “Industry 4.0. ”
However, two smart factories (Speedfactories) that Adidas built in Germany and the United States in 2016 and 2017 respectively have been announced to close in 2019, moving their business to China and Vietnam, where labor costs are relatively low.
In economics, there is a so-called "path dependence" - the future generations continue to develop on the basis of the accumulation of previous generations, and relying on the completion of studies brings obstacles to innovation.
German stealth champions like Sezer are built on traditional manufacturing like internal combustion engines for everything from products and technology to employees.
However, when the internal combustion engine falls out of favor, these highly specialized enterprises are difficult to convert the runway and face the risk of being eliminated.
Renewable energy is shrinking.
Bureaucracy and populism block energy transition
Germany had hoped to completely phase out nuclear power by 2022 and coal plants by 2038.
However, according to the latest data from Germany ’ s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), coal accounted for 27% of the country ’ s electricity generation in the first half of this year, making it the largest source of electricity generation.
The share of wind power, which was originally the largest source of electricity, fell sharply, hitting its lowest level since 2018.
The share of renewable energy in power generation has also shrunk from more than half to 44%.
“The latest data show the challenges facing Germany ’ s energy transition, ” Deutsche Welle said.
Germany "abandoned nuclear coal, to ensure regeneration" was originally for environmental protection, but the irony is that today's energy transition is blocked, but also because of environmental protection.
As Euronews reported in September, “Bureaucracy and angry locals are blocking the energy transition. ”
Bavaria, for example, introduced the 110-H rule that new wind turbines must be installed at least ten times the height of the nearest housing.
As a result, none of the wind power projects in the last two years have been licensed locally.
In Wargolshausen, Germany, a showdown lasted even 10 years.
Investors were forced to remove the new wind turbine base and replace it with the old one because of lawsuits filed by nearby farmers.
“We ’ ve wasted €6 million on this project.
It can ’ t go on like this, ” complained investor Jürgen Rüth.
At the same time, the energy transition also involves high electricity prices in Germany.
The average household in Germany pays the highest electricity price in the European Union, and the average household price per kilowatt (including tax) jumped to a record high of 0.3 euros in the second half of last year.
German household electricity bills have doubled since 2000: 20 years ago a three-person household paid an average of €41 a month for electricity, now it is €93.
Der Spiegel pointed to three reasons for the high price of electricity: First, power plants have to pay increasing costs for carbon dioxide emissions.
According to the latest EU regulation, the cost per tonne of CO2 emitted by energy producers is 54 euros.
Second, the performance of renewable energy is not as expected.
Low wind power and cloudy skies in Germany have produced only 87 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity from renewables this year, compared to 103 TWh in the same period last year.
Supply cannot keep up with demand, and electricity prices naturally rise.
Finally, the supply of natural gas in Europe has recently fallen to a record low, and the high price of natural gas has led to a huge increase in the cost of generating electricity.
Some have suggested that Gazprom, Russia ’ s state-owned gas company, is cutting gas supplies and pressuring Germany to complete the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
It also highlights the reality of Germany ’ s dependence on foreign energy.
In the long run, Germany ’ s electricity shortage is unlikely to disappear.
In March, Reuters quoted a report from the German Audit Office that said there could be a gap of 4.5 gigawatts (GW) in the German power grid between 2022 and 2025, equivalent to ten large coal plants.
The report said the German economy ministry ’ s push for an energy transition “is too optimistic, and its goals are to a certain extent incredible. ”
Nevertheless, not all German companies bear the consequences of high electricity prices.
The larger the electricity used by the enterprise, the lower the average electricity price.
Therefore, on the one hand, Germany's energy-intensive industries, which use large amounts of electricity, enjoy low electricity prices, which are accused by European neighbors of unfair electricity price subsidies.
On the other hand, German SMEs pay high electricity prices due to low electricity consumption.
Ingeborg Neumann, a spokesman for Fair Energy Transition, a group of 10,000 German small and medium-sized businesses, told the German newspaper Merchants that high electricity prices are “the killer of our competitiveness. ”
20 years of energy transformation, Germany is facing the problem of power supply shortage, power price system and energy conservation contradiction.
At present, the main political parties in Germany support the energy transition, but as EuroNews said, “Germany urgently needs a new and reasonable legal framework to make the energy transition work. ” It seems that the energy transition and the industrial transformation it entails are probably the biggest challenges for the next German Chancellor.
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The shutdown of nuclear power plants has raised energy security concerns, as Germany relies on lignite and natural gas for 45% of its electricity.

Germany's energy supply has been significantly impacted by the Russian-Ukrainian war, as it relies heavily on Russian fossil fuel imports.

Title:

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How did the German model achieve an unbearable energy transition war across the sea?
【 By Fu Guanqi 】
Environmental awareness, green energy production has always been regarded as the world's superior Germany, but because of a Ukrainian-Russian war, let the bright achievements behind the unfinished business, exposed to the world.
Is this general review of energy security, ignited by war, a crisis or a turning point for Germany, which rose from the ashes of World War II? Can Germany break through the status quo and turn into a new model for a sustainable economy in the future?
Or is it a death on the road to transformation? How can Taiwan find its future direction from this “energy transition war ”?
Just after Christmas, for many Dodd families, the most wanted Christmas gift may be a heat pump to make the whole family better through the winter.
Unlike the tens of millions of domestic heating systems in Germany that still use natural gas or oil as fuel, heat pumps are powered by electricity, which can be seen as "reverse air conditioning", which has a higher thermal conversion efficiency and symbolizes energy access at a lower price.
The energy crisis caused by the Russo-Ukrainian War has become a watershed in the price of energy in Germany.
The past dependence on Russia to import a large amount of cheap energy can not be returned, and the international carbon pricing mechanism is increasingly complete, which has led Germany to realize that only green energy is the way to reduce energy prices again.
The "Vision" team traveled to Germany, in-depth interviews and observed that the consensus that permeates German society today is: "There is not much time for the energy transition, and we must accelerate progress."
German Green Party MP Till Steffen, who visited Taiwan in 2022, told Visionary that "this' energy crisis' has accelerated the 'energy transition' and become a priority for the government."
German Economy Accelerates Greening, Renewable Energy Becomes National Security Foundation
This is not just a matter of paper. At the end of 2022, Germany inaugurated the country ’ s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.
Germany decided last spring to build it, and it could be completed in a few months. “This is super fast for Germany, ” Steffen said.“ We need to scale up renewable energy at the same rate. ”
If you make decisions at the slow pace of your past habits, you won ’ t be able to achieve the goals you set. ”
In the past, far less ambitious than the Green Party ’ s liberal finance minister, Christian Lindner, has also designated renewable energy as “free energy ”, emphasizing its function to enhance Germany ’ s energy security and economic independence.
In this context, the two pillars of the energy transition, "switching to renewable energy" and "improving energy efficiency", have also become the top priorities of enterprises in the country.
Even the German machine tool manufacturer MAG, a pioneer of Industry 4.0, has re-examined energy conservation and is preparing to install solar panels on its plant.
“Many investment plans are being reevaluated because of higher energy prices, ” explains Sebastian Schoning, MAG ’ s head of Europe & Americas.“ Many investments that were previously unprofitable are now justified. ”
Solar panels that can be used for their own use and can be sold for electricity have been greatly shortened, and with tax incentives, large and small businesses and families have been selling out; installation technicians are so hot that waiting in line has become a new normal in the last few months.
Yen Chien-ho, general manager of the German branch of FSP, which has been operating solar energy storage business for more than six years from Taiwan, revealed that the green energy product line is already the main revenue of the company, and it is estimated that by 2023, solar related products can grow by 50%.
Quanhan also saw the business opportunities of green energy vehicles in Europe and decided to set up a new R & D center in Germany to attack customized charging devices.
Another Taiwanese company that has been working in Germany for ten years, Servo Press Co., Ltd. is also favored by European customers due to the fact that the product consumes about 50% less power than traditional presses, and is expected to double its business performance in 2023.
Germany has been driving the energy transition for decades. The driving force of this energy crisis is mainly reflected in the change of mentality and the re-calculation of business interests.
First, in terms of mentality, Germany used to import about 60% of its energy, and is more heavily dependent on cheap fossil fuels from Russia.
However, when energy is no longer so readily available, it has also greatly changed the German society's view of energy: in the past, everyone saw renewable energy as a threat to the stability of electricity supply, and now it is an important basis for protecting national security.
Second, in the eyes of enterprises, green energy has become the only energy source that can maintain long-term competitiveness.
"We all know that there is no future for fossil fuels," said Markus Rosenthal, director of government relations at the German Association for Energy Storage Systems. He cited the withdrawal of Allianz, Germany 's largest insurance company, and the active investment of major banks in decarbonization technology as examples. The effect of greening the German economy is greater than anyone else. "
Many may have heard of Germany ’ s Energiewende vision after the Fukushima disaster.
But such a concept has taken root in Germany ’ s anti-nuclear movement since the 1970s.
Since then, the Green Party movement has developed with the greatest political influence in the world.
GREEN ENERGY GREEN ENERGY CHALLENGE 1: Lack of work, insufficient capacity of Northern Power South
The Renewable Energy Act (EEG), which came into force in 2000, made Germany the first major economy to promote renewable energy.
Over the next 20 years, the proportion of renewable energy supply has grown significantly from 6% to 46%, and this remarkable achievement has become an international model case for promoting energy transformation.
However, the model of the period of peace seems to be unable to withstand the test of war, and Germany still fell into the dilemma of energy crisis in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Russia ’ s invasion of Ukraine and the weaponization of energy are certainly uncontrollable factors.
But the German society's caution against nuclear energy has also made Germany more dependent on relatively clean natural gas during the period of phasing out coal.
“We are over-reliant on fossil fuels and the development of renewable energy over the past few years has been too slow, ” said Malte Kuper, energy and climate policy researcher at the German Institute for Economic Research (IW).“ We must accelerate the correction of the structural errors of energy policy over the past decade. ”
Wilhelm Kiewitt, Director of Energy Economics at 50Hertz, a German power grid company, said: “We are vigorously promoting the construction of renewable energy, but we have not updated the grid infrastructure and have not ensured that the design of the electricity market is compatible.
As a result, the energy transition is not doing well. ”
Wind power located on the northern coast of Germany has so far been difficult to reach the industrial heartland of the south because the government has spent too much time coordinating with the residents of the south to accept high-voltage cables cutting through their beautiful landscapes.
The lack of capacity of Northern Power South has become a key missing piece in the German energy puzzle.
In addition, the political lobbying power of fossil fuel companies and strict regulations on onshore wind power have also slowed down the pace of transformation in Germany.
A few months ago, there was a demolition of nearby windmills to expand coal mines in North Wales. Although the efficiency of these windmills was low and they were expected to be rebuilt and upgraded, environmentalists criticized this as a retrograde policy in the midst of the energy crisis.
But the lack of urgency may be the key factor in Germany ’ s gradual deviation from its goal.
According to the German government ’ s 2021 forecast, all sectors, from energy, industry and agriculture, will not be able to meet the 2030 climate goals on the basis of current carbon reduction actions.
In terms of new technology, even if Germany began hydrogen energy research more than 30 years ago, it has not been able to enter the expansion.
Thomas Hilig, founder of THEnergy in Germany and a hydrogen energy consultant, pointed out that “we have studied hydrogen energy thoroughly and want to know everything. ”
But it may be possible to start expanding sooner.
Indeed, now is the time to launch the app. ”
The impact of high energy prices and increasingly extreme weather have become a reality in Germany, forcing the country, accustomed to sound and prudent action, to admit its mistakes and shortcomings and accelerate the progress of the energy transition.
The question is, is it in time?
Opening a recent German newspaper will find that a crisis is not necessarily a turning point.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for 99% of the total number of German enterprises, are struggling, and many companies may not be able to survive.
A survey of companies released by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) in the summer of 2022 shows that due to high energy prices, 1 / 4 of enterprises have completed the deployment of production reduction, 1 / 4 have reduced the scale of operations, and the remaining half have not yet begun to act, and are still thinking about the corresponding steps.
At present, the German government has finalized a nearly 100 billion euro energy bill subsidy plan, but Asha Maria Sharma, deputy director of digital services at the Foreign Trade and Investment Agency, believes that financial subsidies are only part of the solution, companies must think about how to use AI, data analysis and other technologies to save energy, in order to remain competitive in the future when energy prices are higher.
However, the resources and financial power of SMEs are not as good as those of multinational enterprises, and it is not easy to face inflation, interest rate hikes, the impact on the dollar exchange rate and energy prices, and to devote more efforts to long-term investment layout.
For example, when the Covid-19 pandemic spread, Alexander Krug, the public relations manager in charge of the Berlin Digital Center for SMEs, observed that about a third of SMEs were suspending or even cancelling strategic digital investments that would bear fruit in the medium to long term.
Moreover, in the global semiconductor shortage, many small and medium-sized enterprises are competing for similar chips with the government-supported renewable energy industry, as well as Germany ’ s powerful automotive industry.
In terms of money and resources, it is difficult to win.
Cooper said that in the long term, the energy crisis can be an accelerator of the energy transition.
But for an industrial powerhouse like Germany, which has a high proportion of energy-intensive industries, there is also a risk that “industry may decline before the green energy transition is complete. ”
Many homes waiting for solar panel technicians to install their doors also reveal another risk: lack of work.
“If you ask a business, what ’ s the biggest question about operations? Almost every time the answer is, ‘ We need people. ’ ”
Especially in the areas of green energy and digital technology, which are crucial to driving transformation, there is a particular lack of technical talent.
Many countries in Europe have a shortage of jobs.
However, in the manufacturing sector, more than 40% of enterprises in Germany are understaffed.
In comparison, France is less than 25%, and Italy and Spain are less than 10%.
Even the director of the German public broadcaster said recently: "We have to recruit people from all over the world... even the German level of the candidates is not so important."
As long as I work hard, I don ’ t worry too much that they can only speak a few words of German. ”
GREEN ENERGY GREEN ENERGY CHALLENGE 2: Higher energy costs, the United States proposed a bill to reduce inflation and siphon off international investment
The evolution of the international situation has also made the adverse situation worse.
The European war is still raging, the epidemic is still hazy, and the tensions between the United States and China have caused Germany, formerly the beneficiary of free trade and international supply chains, to reverse the situation and increase the pressure.
In particular, in August 2022, the United States passed the $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act, proposing a simpler and more attractive subsidy specification than the European Union, which is likely to siphon off more international investment at a time when Germany urgently needs to accelerate the expansion of renewable energy.
Some scholars wonder whether Germany will be able to complete the energy transition that it failed to achieve during a period of relative stability in the face of many challenges.
Only recently did Germany significantly expand public spending to help society weather the epidemic. To date, it has allocated more than 260 billion euros in response to the energy crisis.
This is almost 7% of national GDP, well above the EU average of 83 billion euros.
Meanwhile, Germany is still trying to boost its defense budget to 2% of GDP.
Even if the money is relatively abundant, it is also pressure.
Reinhard Biedermann, a professor in the Department of Global Political Economy at Tamkang University, pointed out that to develop enough renewable energy to replace traditional energy sources requires a lot of investment, manpower and even land, which Germany cannot do at the same time.
“The energy crisis is really an opportunity to expand renewable energy.
But turning the crisis into a turning point is not so simple.
Germany depends not only on imports of fossil fuels, but also on imports of renewable energy.
After the decline of the German solar industry, about 95% of the domestic solar cells are manufactured in China.
Nordex shut down Germany ’ s last wind turbine turnstile plant in June 2022, taking into account costs, causing observers to worry that the wind energy industry may be heading toward a fate similar to that of the solar industry.
Steffen said that due to competition from China, the German solar industry has lost a lot of intellectual and political power, and now is the time to reinvigorate the domestic solar value chain.
“We still have capacity in wind energy, but we can ’ t find a market in our country because Chinese products are cheaper, ” Steffen said.
In some ways, the energy crisis is just beginning.
As the Visionary team rode a high-speed rail at a speed of nearly 300 kilometers across the edge of Germany ’ s beloved forest, they were greeted by rotating fans, solar panels laid on the roof of the building, and high-voltage power towers that transmit electricity over a long distance.
This has gradually become a familiar daily scene in German society.
At this point, it may be seen as an important milestone in the final completion of Germany ’ s energy transition, but it may also be the starting point for the decline of German industry.
Looking back at the challenges of the pandemic, companies in Dodd all agree that agility, flexibility and flexibility are essential skills to survive in the current changing environment.
In particular, German industry contributes more than a quarter of the country ’ s GDP, which is higher than developed countries such as France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
But strengthening the high-priced “Made in Germany ” brand with performance, quality and stability is threatened by higher energy costs.
Steffen acknowledged that many Dodd companies use cheap Russian energy to produce and then sell their products at high prices to the U.S. and mid-market.
This is similar to the common pattern in Taiwan.
Taiwan 's green energy students > risk assessment first, transformation needs to think about the overall order
Sucheta Govil, chief commercial officer of Covestro, observed that energy is already a global issue and resource constraints are becoming the foreseeable future. “Even if you are in Asia, energy prices are still cheap, but price increases are reflected in the supply chain. ”
This advantage is diluted by rising raw material costs, even if Germany considers itself to be of excellent mechanical engineering quality. ”
Even if Germany has only recently begun to cope with the energy crisis, the effectiveness of the policy measures will have to wait for time to prove, and there are still lessons for Taiwan.
First, understand your energy security and independence and conduct a risk assessment.
Leonard believes that encouraging energy conservation by raising energy prices and using this income to invest more in renewable energy is worth considering.
“Explaining to people the higher energy costs they pay will help develop renewable energy and improve energy security. ”
Second, think about the sequence of measures for the energy transition as a whole, and put limited resources in the right place at the right time.
Hans-Joachim Ziesing, a former energy transition consultant for Germany ’ s Future Energy Plan, shared that one of Germany ’ s mistakes was to set a good goal and vision before developing policies to be achieved.
A better approach might be to take a practical approach, clarify the quantitative benefits that each policy can bring, and determine that cross-party consensus can be reached to move forward together.
It is also important to continuously monitor the performance of data and to be accountable to all departments.
Hiliger observed that Germany ’ s national hydrogen energy strategy in 2020 shows that officials have learned from the siting of renewable energy and energy transportation.
“Many projects take production and consumption into account as a whole, for example, by making good use of existing construction, refurbishing natural gas pipelines to become hydrogen pipelines, rather than placing electrolytic tanks next to wind power plants. ”
Preparing businesses and citizens to move away from fossil fuels
Finally, it is the continuation of the momentum of social change.
In the past, Germany saw natural gas as a “bridging energy ” to connect fossil fuels with renewable energy; now, losing its main source of natural gas imports, it has had to restart coal plants and lease liquid-gas receiving stations.
After doing so, it may be harder to get rid of them in the future.
Ideally, when the hydrogen energy market matures, Germany can renovate this batch of liquid natural gas receiving stations into hydrogen energy receiving stations.
But the two are different energy sources after all, and the renovation will be another expense.
Whether it can be developed according to the plan is still uncertain.
After the government finalizes the energy subsidy policy, from the beginning of 2023 to April 2024, 80% of the bill will be protected by the price cap, and users will only pay 20% of the current price.
This will change people ’ s interest.
How to make good use of the incentive mechanism to encourage society to continue to promote energy conservation and transformation at the household, business and infrastructure levels is also a big test.
Although Taiwan, which has a higher industrial share than Germany, has yet to personally feel the waves of the European energy crisis, it will be crucial to be as prepared and adapted as possible to the future of higher fossil fuel prices before the price protection umbrella for long-term contracts ends.
Read more articles from Visionary Magazine:
Green energy forward 1 〉 towards the "hydrogen republic" Germany still has to pass three points
CES Taiwan Factory Attack 〉 Honghai, Hongda Power Login, Meta Universe Welcomes God 's Teammates
Thunder Tiger shares rise 1.9 times a year! Dong Za reveals the 8-year transformation plan from toys to drones
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2023 Taipei International Book Fair / German author Katrina shares with her children that "the one who is not afraid to lose is the winner"
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Q: You can also comment on the Chinese government?
Dictatorship is well known: Could Germany have prevented Hitler from coming to power?
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Green energy forward 1 〉 towards the "hydrogen republic" Germany still has to pass three points
For a long time, hydrogen energy, which can achieve zero carbon emissions, has been called the “fuel of the future. ” With the increasing global climate change and the rising price of fossil fuels, hydrogen has become an urgent national agenda.
Is the future really coming?
Can Cryptocurrencies Become International Clearing Currencies After Gold and US Dollars?
Is Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies likely to become the currency of international settlement? After the many crashes in the currency circle in 2022, and the currency price has dropped sharply, many people will immediately shake their hands and say, absolutely not!
Perhaps you will be more aware of the significance of international clearing currencies, digital innovation, and cryptocurrencies in the new era.
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Thunder Tiger shares rise 1.9 times a year! Dong Za reveals the 8-year transformation plan from toys to drones
Thunder Tiger Technology, which started out as a remote control model, actually jumped to become a popular military stock in recent days, and the stock price in 2022 increased by 1.9 times a year! Behind this, there is the transformation plan of Chairman Chen Guanru in the past 8 years.
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How did the German model achieve an unbearable energy transition war across the sea?
Environmental awareness, green energy production has always been regarded as the world's superior Germany, but because of a Ukrainian-Russian war, let the bright achievements behind the unfinished business, exposed to the world.
Is this general review of energy security, ignited by war, a crisis or a turning point for Germany, which rose from the ashes of World War II? Can Germany break through the status quo and turn into a new model for a sustainable economy in the future?
Or is it a death on the road to transformation? How can Taiwan find its future direction from this “energy transition war ”?
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The war has highlighted Germany's need to transition to renewable energy, prompting its first liquefied natural gas terminal in 2022.

The country aims to meet 80% of its energy demand with renewables by 2030.

Title:

Content: World

Berlin against, Rome is silent, Paris in favor. Nuclear power explodes in the EU

Germany closed three reactors in 2021 and plans to do the same with the other three in 2022. Belgium shares the same idea, “shut down” its seven plants by 2025. Spain, which has some reactors in operation as well, does not consider them “green” at all. Luxembourg dismisses the proposal to include the atom in the green taxonomy as a “provocation”. Austria of the atom does not want to know, with 82% of its primary energy production made from renewables (data 2019), and is studying a legal action against the Commission. France is delighted to see nuclear power (77% of its domestic production) taken into account by Brussels. Italy, which is fond of Minister Cingolani’s idea of increasing its gas extractions, is currently silent and at least hopes for a golden rule to exclude “green” investments from the calculation of the deficit. A few days after the publication of the draft of the European Commission on the green taxonomy, the distances between the 27 instead of narrowing, are widening and if yesterday they seemed divided, today they show themselves to be shattered.

The definition of the green taxonomy is fundamental in orienting investments: with the “green” stamp, industrial and infrastructure projects can be much more attractive for private capital. However, the decision to include nuclear and gas in the EU’s green taxonomy has met with harsh criticism already in recent weeks, when rumors had not yet taken the form of a draft Commission. The technicians from Brussels and the team of experts who collaborated in the drafting of the central document for the definition of the EU energy planning in the context of the Green New Deal tried to circumvent the foreseeable resistance by introducing some conditions for the two sources that are not neutral with respect to the climate and the environment. Nuclear and gas, first of all, will be considered compatible with the green taxonomy only for a defined period of time and “to the extent that they contribute to the transition towards climate neutrality and do not significantly damage the environment”, according to an official of Brussels. “The Commission sees the future energy mix as a predominantly renewable or low-carbon energy system. We really hope that this proposal will help bring about the change we need and channel private funding towards low-emission energy sources ”.

In fact, it means that investments in nuclear power will be “green” only if the projects presented have a well defined plan, funds and site for the disposal of radioactive waste in total safety. Building permits will only be allowed until 2045. It is worth remembering that at the moment there is still talk of third generation or third plus nuclear power. Not the fourth, the (slag-free) fusion that experts believe may have a role on an industrial scale no earlier than the middle of the century. As for gas, investments in power plants will be green only if they contribute to emissions of less than 270 grams of CO2 equivalent per kWh and replace more polluting fossil fuel plants. They will need to obtain a building permit before 2030.

On gas, the Commission’s conditions appear much more stringent. It is a non-solid fossil source, certainly less polluting than coal and to which Italy looks with interest, having unused methane deposits. Moreover, in a European context of high prices and constant reduction of supplies from the main supplier, Russia, for reasons of a geopolitical nature. But it is on nuclear power that the clash risks worsening at the community level.

“We believe nuclear technology is dangerous,” government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told reporters in Berlin, noting that the question of what to do with the radioactive waste remains unresolved. Hebestreit added that Germany “expressly rejects” the EU assessment on atomic energy and has repeatedly affirmed this position towards the Commission. Germany is now considering the next steps to take. Germany is set to shut down the remaining three nuclear power plants later this year and phase out coal by 2030, while its neighbor France aims to modernize existing reactors and build new ones to meet energy needs. Berlin plans to rely on natural gas until it can be replaced by non-polluting energy sources. The opposite paths taken by two of the EU’s largest economies have led to an embarrassing situation for the Commission. The draft EU executive branch concludes that both nuclear power and natural gas can be considered sustainable under certain conditions for investment purposes.

Hebestreit said the German government’s goal is to use natural gas only as a “bridge technology” and replace it with non-polluting alternatives such as hydrogen produced from renewable energy by 2045, the deadline the country has set for becoming climate neutral. . The spokesman did not say whether Chancellor Olaf Scholz supports the opinion of the Minister of Economy and Climate Robert Habeck that the European Commission’s proposals are a form of “greenwashing”.

Germany has pulled the plug on three of its last six nuclear power plants. The Brokdorf, Grohnde and Gundremmingen C reactors, operated by the E.On and Rwe utilities, were closed on December 31st after 35 years of operation. The last three nuclear power plants – Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim II – will be shut down by the end of 2022. However, closure does not mean decommissioning, which will take much longer and is expected to take place by 2040 in the case of Brokdorf, for example. .

In 2021, the six nuclear power plants contributed about 12% of electricity generation in Germany. The German energy mix consists of 41% renewables, 28% coal and 15% gas. By 2030, Germany aims to meet 80% of energy demand with renewables. This is not the case in France where – given Eurostat 2019 – 77.6% of its energy produced comes from the atom and only 20% from renewable.

Germany is not alone in the firm opposition to the proposal put forward by Brussels: the draft “is a provocation from a procedural point of view” and “in terms of content it hides the risk of greenwashing”, wrote on Twitter the Minister of Energy of the Luxembourg, Claude Turmes, saying he is ready to “examine the proposal in detail and discuss further steps” together with Germany and Austria, equally opposed to including nuclear power among sustainable investments. The proposal was sent to governments on Friday, “in a nocturnal and nebulous action. This says a lot about transparency ”, attacked Turmes.

The same tones used by Vienna: if these are the plans “we will sue”, wrote on Twitter the Austrian Federal Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy, Leonore Gewessler, highlighting that nuclear energy is “dangerous and not it represents a solution in the fight against the climate crisis ”. Austria has no reactors and produces almost all of its energy from renewable sources.

The Spanish government also rejected the European Commission’s proposal to include nuclear and natural gas energy in the EU’s “green” taxonomy. According to Madrid, this is “a step backwards” and “a wrong signal” for the financial markets. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, stressed that “regardless of whether we can continue to invest in one or the other, we believe they are not green or sustainable energies”. Spain – he added – “is a firm supporter of green taxonomy as a key tool to have common references that can be used by investors to achieve the decarbonisation of the economy and climate neutrality by 2050”, but include nuclear and gas “It would be a step backwards,” according to the government official Sanchez. “It makes no sense and sends the wrong signals for the European energy transition as a whole,” he stressed. While admitting that both nuclear power and natural gas have a role to play in the transition, this is “limited in time”. Member States have until 12 January to provide their response to the Commission. Then, once published, it will have to pass the scrutiny of the EU Council and Parliament, where the environmentalist parties are also announcing a battle.

In 2019, France was the country that produced the largest share of energy in the EU (20% of the total), followed by Germany (17%), Poland (9.6%), Italy and Sweden (6%). ). However, the debate on green taxonomy is intertwined with energy security (or sovereignty) in a particular historical phase, marked by risks to the security of supply due to geopolitical and military reasons, as shown by the tensions on the Ukrainian border. Primary energy production in the EU in 2019 was distributed among various energy sources, the most important of which in terms of the size of its contribution were renewables, with over a third (36.5%) of the total. Second place for nuclear power, with 32.0% of total primary energy production, with France in the lead, followed by Belgium (77% of domestic production in 2019) which, however, is about to abound in nuclear power like Germany. However, all European energy production is not enough to meet its needs: more than half of Europe’s energy is imported. The EU energy dependency rate exceeds 50%.

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James Reno

Editor-in-Chief, James loves playing games and loves to write about them more. He knows a lot about entertainment because he has done a drama course. James loves writing, so he is our writer. email: james@d1softballnews.com

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Germany's energy transition is being slowed by a lack of grid infrastructure.

In December 2022, 49% of Germany's electricity came from coal as the country copes with the loss of nuclear energy.

Title:

Content: Europe ｜ Coal-fired power in Europe
When the price of natural gas and electricity rises,
European industry must rely on coal-fired power to meet its winter energy needs.
Europe could survive this winter without Russian energy supplies.
Experts say the secret to Europe ’ s survival is to keep burning more coal than in the past few years.
Europe has long promised to eliminate the use of carbon-emitting fuels to combat climate anomalies, so choosing to burn large amounts of coal to generate electricity is now a difficult decision.
In the case of France, Russia ’ s invasion of Ukraine was interrupted by Western sanctions, forcing France to resume the use of nuclear power plants.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the surge in coal demand in Europe is the main reason why global coal consumption is expected to reach a record high in 2022.
Coal will continue to be the single largest source of carbon emissions in the global energy system.
In addition to accelerating the resumption of coal use in Europe during the Russo-Ukrainian War, the transition to renewable energy in Europe has not been smooth, which is one of the reasons for increasing the use of coal in Europe.
Over the past decade, Europe has been closing dozens of coal-fired power plants while investing in solar and wind power.
But when electricity demand peaks on cloudy days or when wind is weak, Europe does not have enough clean energy to maintain its power supply.
When this happens, the price of electricity will rise because of the shortage of supply and demand, which will prompt the power companies to burn fossil fuels to supply electricity.
Natural gas surges, coal is more beneficial
In recent years, Europe has mainly responded to the shortage of power supply by burning natural gas, but recently coal has surpassed natural gas as an important petrochemical fuel for power generation.
This is partly because European countries, such as Germany, have put coal-fired power plants back into operation, and the profit margin for coal-fired power generation after soaring natural gas prices.
Pawe Czyak, an analyst at the think tank Ember, said demand for electricity was rising and power companies were trying to increase their coal-fired power generation first rather than using natural gas.
Europe December 2022 Demand for coal-fired power increased due to factors such as cold winter ice and insufficient wind, which limited the supply of wind farms.
In the first two weeks of December, 22% of the EU ’ s total electricity generation came from coal, up from 17% in the same period in 2021 and 15% of the annual average.
According to data from energy analysis firm EnAppSys, 49% of Germany ’ s total electricity generation in the first two weeks of December 2022 came from coal, up from 6% in the same period in 2021.
National Grid, the UK ’ s energy supplier, said that surging demand for electricity had reduced the share of wind power to less than 4% on 11 December 2022, when two coal-fired power plants were immediately ready to operate to power the next day.
Meeting the energy needs of countries is challenging
Jean-Paul Harreman, manager of EnAppSys, said that Germany has resumed some coal-fired power plants in Europe, and that if Germany cannot output electricity, then France will suffer from power shortages.
While several French nuclear reactors are back in operation, and rising wind speeds and temperatures are helping to increase wind power generation, energy executives say finding ways to meet energy demand amid a shortage of renewable energy remains one of the biggest challenges for European governments and businesses over the next decade.
Pieter de Pous, director of the E3G project, a think-tank that advocates the transition to fossil fuels, said hydrogen or batteries can store electricity generated by solar or wind power and then release electricity when renewable energy is insufficient, but the two have not yet been produced and installed on a large scale.
He believes that it is now crucial to expand the grid connections across Europe so that the electricity generated from renewable sources can be supplied where there is insufficient electricity.
At a time of high prices for natural gas and electricity, Europe ’ s industrial sector still relies on burning coal and oil for electricity to stay afloat.
For example, the coal-fired power plant at Evonik Industries ’ chemical plant in Marr, Germany, was scheduled to shut down in the summer of 2022, but after the Russian-Ukrainian war triggered an energy crisis, it decided to extend its life until March 2024.
Choose the words.
Across Europe, industry is leaning on coal, as well as oil, to keep operating at a time of high gas and power prices.
Extended reading

The country lacks enough clean energy to maintain power supply on cloudy days.

Germany's focus remains on renewable energy, with no push to restart nuclear reactors.

The country has allocated over 260 billion euros to promote renewable energy and reduce fossil fuel dependence.

Reintegrating nuclear power into Germany's energy grid poses significant technical challenges and uncertain impacts on renewable energy goals.

Title:

Content: EU defies critics to power ahead with 'green' gas and nuclear plans

Commission says countries must accept imperfect solutions in green transition

The EU’s executive branch will press ahead with plans to classify gas and nuclear power as climate-friendly despite protests from environment campaigners and member states including Germany and Austria.

In a victory for pro-nuclear countries such as France, the European Commission announced that the two power sources would be included in a menu of green investments for the private sector.

Mairead McGuinness, the commissioner for financial services, said the urgent need to scrap coal power meant accepting “imperfect solutions” until Europe can get more of its power from renewable sources.

“I believe that we have found a balance between fundamentally different opinions in supporting the road to decarbonisation,” she said after the 27-member commission approved the proposals on Wednesday.

They were presented in draft form on January 1, beginning a month-long consultation in which Germany and others lodged objections.

Ms McGuinness said the green list known as the EU taxonomy was a tool of financial policy, meant to steer private investment towards green activities, and did not force anyone to use or invest in nuclear or gas.

But critics said the taxonomy undermines the EU’s credibility in climate policy and constitutes an act of greenwashing, or passing off polluting activities as environmentally friendly.

Although nuclear power produces minimal carbon emissions, it is controversial because of the waste it produces and the risk of an accident. Gas-fired plants emit carbon dioxide, although they are regarded as less harmful than coal.

Protesters at commission headquarters staged a mock burial for the EU’s so-called Green Deal agenda on Wednesday, saying the plan to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 is weakened by political horse-trading.

"I’d like to report an attempted robbery, please," joked Greenpeace campaigner Ariadna Rodrigo. "Someone is trying to take billions of euros away from renewables and sink them into technologies that either do nothing to fight the climate crisis, like nuclear, or which actively make the problem worse."

'Back room deal'

The inclusion of both nuclear and gas was seen as a potential compromise between atomic power reliant France and its neighbour Germany, which is on the brink of abolishing nuclear power but will need gas to fill the gap.

“A trustworthy taxonomy requires science as its basis, not back room doors between a few EU leaders,” said Paul Tang, a Dutch member of an economic affairs committee in the European Parliament.

“For a global leader in the fight against climate change, labelling fossil gas and nuclear as sustainable is a strange hill to die on”.

Markus Ferber, a German MEP, said the commission had failed to listen to its critics during a four-week consultation.

Criticism from countries such as Germany, Austria and Luxembourg “has not been heard by the European Commission”, he said.

Ms McGuinness said technical adjustments had been made in response to feedback, including amendments to the rules for gas and nuclear to qualify for the green list.

Gas-fired plants will be subject to emissions caps, they should replace an existing coal facility and should be aiming to switch to low-carbon energy sources by 2035.

Investment in nuclear plants can include upgrades to reactors, but will have to meet what the commission described as comprehensive safety and waste requirements.

Parliament clash

Opponents have four months to move against the plans with a vote in the European Council or Parliament, but they do not have the required majority in the first and the picture in the second is uncertain.

Esther de Lange, a climate spokeswoman for the largest bloc in the Parliament, faulted the commission for failing to consult MEPs but said the taxonomy offered “much-needed clarity”.

“To reduce Europe's CO2 emissions, we need gas. Not for ever and everywhere, but for a transitional period and in certain situations,” she said.

Austria separately plans to file a lawsuit against the plans, although Germany said that it regards the prospects for a successful legal challenge as poor.

An earlier section of the taxonomy, which gives the green badge to less controversial energy sources, is already in force.

It does not require companies to choose climate-friendly investments, but aims to give a definitive measure of their environmental impact – after the Cop26 summit brought promises from the private sector to act climate-consciously.

Ms McGuinness said the transitional use of gas and nuclear was necessary in part because 15 per cent of electricity production in Europe still relies on coal.

“Today is a means to an end. The end is a low-carbon future powered by renewable energy,” she said.

“We need to move as fast as we can from the highest-carbon energy sources like coal. During this transition, that may mean accepting imperfect solutions.”

Updated: February 2nd 2022, 12:55 PM

Germany's energy market is shifting towards renewables and away from fossil fuels.

Title:

Content: Green hydrogen
Germany and the European Union have made progress in their hydrogen talks.
Europe – Germany ’ s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Climate Protection, Robert Habeck, said recent progress has been made in talks with the European Commission on hydrogen subsidies.
But the European Commission has not yet approved these subsidies, the EU said, and the aim of the talks is to develop "safeguards (...) to comply with European legislation on national and energy assistance".
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Hydrogen energy is a dual role of clean and efficient energy storage carriers. By converting wind, solar and nuclear energy into hydrogen energy, renewable energy can be stored and transported on a large scale across seasons, becoming the best overall solution in the current new energy field.
Hydrogen energy storage solution is the ideal interconnection medium to promote the clean and efficient use of traditional fossil energy and support the large-scale development of renewable energy. It is the best choice for large-scale deep decarbonization in transportation, industry and construction.
Germany has the second largest installed offshore wind power capacity in the world (7.7 GW in Germany at the end of 2019) and aims to install 15 to 20 GW of offshore wind by 2030.
Germany is phasing out nuclear power by 2022 and coal-fired power by 2038, and is committed to the development of renewable energy, striving to increase the proportion of renewable energy in Germany's power generation structure to 65% by 2030.
Since the implementation of the nuclear policy, Germany's nuclear technology and nuclear industry have declined, and Germany has bet its future on the green hydrogen industry.
As with the development of renewable energy and the gradual realization of electrification, green hydrogen is a key component of the complete realization of a zero-carbon energy system.
Because in many transportation fields, such as aviation, shipping and heavy vehicles, it is not possible to directly use electricity for fuel substitution; some industrial processes also cannot directly use electricity, requiring hydrogen as a fuel raw material or for high-temperature operations.
Improving energy efficiency and developing renewable energy are prerequisites for this transformation process.
Since renewable energy already provides most of Germany ’ s electricity, and Germany has made progress in the electrification of transportation and industry, renewable electricity hydrogen production is the next logical step in achieving carbon neutrality. Given these conditions, green hydrogen provides further avenues of understanding for the transportation, storage and trading of renewable electricity; it allows the region ’ s renewable energy potential to be released and utilized on a global scale.
Der Spiegel reported in July that Germany wants subsidies for future power plants to be integrated into the EU ’ s decarbonisation plan, which would ensure faster approvals and more financial aid.
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The country is investing in hydrogen fuel cells, with companies like Lhyfe receiving support.

Title:

Content: UBA: renewable energy in Germany up 10%

By Olivia Minnock
According to a recent report by UBA (Umweltbundesamt, the country’s federal environment agency), renewable energy output in Germa...

According to a recent report by UBA (Umweltbundesamt, the country’s federal environment agency), renewable energy output in Germany has risen by 10% in the past year.

Renewable energy installations, such as solar, wind and biomass facilities, contributed 117bn KWh to Germany’s national grid in the first half of 2018.

UBA reported that wind energy was a key driver of growth, with wind installations contributing to about 50% of overall production, totalling 57bn KWh.

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Meanwhile, photovoltaics contributed toward 24bn KWh with the rest being made up of biomass and biogenous waste, as well as hydropower.

The figures also outlined that during H1 2018, 1633MW of onshore wind turbines were installed in the country, as well as 1359MW of PV installations.

The agency stated: “In total, all forms of renewable generation exceeded their previous year’s values.”

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Germany plans to spend €20 billion on hydrogen by 2027, including subsidies for 10 GW of hydrogen-ready turbines.

Title:

Content: There were 1,584 press releases posted in the last 24 hours and 428,843 in the last 365 days.

Four questions for Germany’s big hydrogen power plan

The German government is proposing to invest billions of euros to support the roll-out of a wave of hydrogen-fired power plants. This is part of a move to phase-out coal plants and to deploy large volumes of wind and solar generation.

Details of the hydrogen plan – the Kraftwerksstrategie or KWS – became available on 5 February through a press release from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action 1 , which confirmed government agreement on the scheme. The plan is now subject to the approval of the European Commission and negotiations with the German parliament.

The planned hydrogen subsidies would have a transformative impact on both the German and European electricity markets. But discussions on the plans during 2023 were the privilege only of those inside ministries. Given the importance of these plans, the lack of public debate or transparency so far, especially at European level, is concerning.

In this context, and to inform the debate that will now start, we pose four questions: Why hydrogen? What are the ramifications for the European market? Where in Germany? By when should coal be phased out?

An unprecedented transformation of the German electricity system

Germany wants 80 percent of domestic electricity generation to be renewable by 2030, up from 44 percent in 2022 2 . Specifically, this involves reaching an installed generation capacity of 215 gigawatts solar, 110 GW onshore wind and 30 GW offshore wind by 2030, more than doubling existing capacities in the next six year 3 .

Germany’s governing coalition must also decide whether to bring forward the legally-specified coal phase-out date from 2038 to 2030. Bringing it forward would imply replacement of an additional 17 GW of lignite and coal plants by 2030 4 , on top of 13 GW of plants already scheduled for shut down.

All this means restructuring the electricity system at unprecedented speed. To accompany variable renewables, the deployment of clean-generation capacity that can smooth fluctuations in renewable output – both intra-day and across seasons – is necessary. However, exactly how much new capacity is required, and from which technology, is not clear.

What does Germany aim to do? Principles and compromises

The main thrust of the power plant strategy is to provide subsidies for hydrogen-fired power plants. The German government sees these plants as replacements for coal-fired plants that will shut down, and as complements to variable renewable generation, most likely by helping to balance longer-term fluctuations in renewable output. This is consistent with the German government’s grander ambitions for hydrogen. Plans are being drawn up for a hydrogen pipeline network that will cover 10,000 km by 2032 5 , and up to €20 billion will be spent developing the hydrogen industry between 2024 and 2027 6 .

The government originally wanted to support three types of plant: 1) hydrogen sprinters, 2) hydrogen hybrid, and 3) hydrogen-ready. Sprinters are purpose-built turbines that would run on hydrogen from day one. Hybrids involve the co-location of hydrogen capabilities alongside solar PV or onshore wind, which could even out the electricity sent to the power grid 7 . Hydrogen-ready plants would be plants with gas-fired turbines, and a requirement to provide a detailed roadmap showing how they will switch to hydrogen no later than 2040.

In August 2023, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action said it had completed negotiations with the European Commission over provision of state aid to these three types of plant 8 . Plans were drawn up to subsidise 4.4 GW of sprinters, 4.4 GW of hybrid plants, and up to 15 GW of hydrogen-ready plants. A first tender was intended for December 2023.

However, like so much of Germany’s planned climate expenditure, this agreement was thrown into question by a November 2023 constitutional court ruling that COVID-19 debt allowances could not be rolled over into Germany’s Climate and Transformation Fund (Klima- und Transformationsfonds, KTF), on the basis that the rollover would breach government spending rules 9 . The KTF would have been the source of the originally-planned subsidies for three types of hydrogen plant.

Therefore, a compromise was worked out, culminating in the government’s 5 February announcement 10 . The government now plans to subsidise a lower volume of 10 GW hydrogen-ready turbines and has scrapped plans for the 8.8 GW combined sprinters and hybrids. A tender process will offer state support for the construction and operation of four natural gas-fired power plants. Bidders should draw up plans for transitioning to hydrogen between 2035 and 2040. The estimated cost is €16 billion 11 .

This would create a demand for hydrogen of 20 TWh annually once all plants are converted, assuming 1,000 running hours per year 12 . Demand of 20 TWh is significant but not disproportionate in the context of wider plans. Total German hydrogen demand today is 55 TWh, of which almost none is supplied as clean hydrogen produced using renewable electricity 13 . The German national hydrogen strategy sets a target for between 40 TWh and 75 TWh total clean hydrogen demand in 2030 (BMWK, 2023).

Until plants are converted to hydrogen, they will consume natural gas, again estimated at a 20 TWh annual consumption. This compares to typical annual German gas demand of 800 TWh, which will be substantially lower by 2030.

Read the full analysis at the original link.

About the authors

Ben McWilliams is working for Bruegel as an Affiliate fellow in the field of Energy and Climate Policy. His work involves data-driven analysis to critique and inform European public policy, specifically in the area of the energy sector and its decarbonisation.

Georg Zachmann is a Senior Fellow at Bruegel, where he has worked since 2009 on energy and climate policy. His work focuses on regional and distributional impacts of decarbonisation, the analysis and design of carbon, gas and electricity markets, and EU energy and climate policies.

Germany remains committed to becoming carbon neutral, with energy storage technologies playing a key role.

The country is exploring new energy storage technologies, including iron flow batteries.

Title:

Content: Q&A with ESS’ Director of Europe Alan Greenshields

Addressing grid interconnection delays & the role of Long Duration Energy Storage to reach net zero, ESS’ Alan Greenshields sits down with Energy Digital

Around the world, there is great pressure on grid modernisation to ensure its resilience and to keep up with ever-increasing demand. But unprecedented delays are stopping these plans to secure grids’ futures in its tracks, potentially bringing up new problems when it comes to energy storage. In the UK, for example, the Enviromena battery project was slammed with a connection delay until 2036, a setback of 14 years.

This highlights the urgent need for grid modernisation and follows the news that the CEO of Octopus Energy is threatening to shift billions of pounds in energy investment overseas to avoid the UKs 200GW connection queue, and the 15 year wait for connecting renewable power projects to the grid.

Alan Greenshields, Director of Europe at ESS, is an expert in energy technology. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the rechargeable battery space. He started his career in high-volume manufacture of computer electronics with IBM and later worked as a senior manager in the Instrumentation Division of VDO Adolf Schindling, a world-leader in automotive instrumentation and now part of Continental.

Alan stresses the reason for the dire need for grid modernisation is because there has been no significant change to the grid for the last three decades, which is limiting renewable energy's mass deployment and threatening net-zero goals.

He believes the timelines to get these projects live could be significantly reduced with ample provision of Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) to accelerate the transition to net-zero, improve energy security and lower consumer costs.

In this interview with Energy Digital, Alan will explore the root causes of these delays and discuss how LDES solutions can expedite the transition to renewable energy, and how ESS’ groundbreaking battery system is set to power Europe’s largest clean energy hub.

In your own words, what is ESS and what services does it provide?

ESS is accelerating global decarbonisation by manufacturing and deploying safe and sustainable LDES systems.

The company is backed by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Honeywell International and SB Energy, and has developed iron flow batteries which deliver up to 12 hours of storage for commercial and industrial-scale projects. ESS iron flow technology uses safe, sustainable chemistry and simple earth-abundant materials – just iron, salt and water. ESS' iron flow technology leverages a broad and flexible supply chain, is largely reusable or recyclable at the end of life and has the lowest life cycle footprint of any competing storage technology according to the University of California - Irvine, supporting customers in achieving their sustainability commitments.

As well as sustainability benefits for customers, ESS technology offers cost-effective energy storage. This is especially true at scale when the benefits of a technology with an inherently low cost entitlement become increasingly apparent. Where Li-ion system costs increase roughly in proportion to storage capacity, iron-flow batteries rely upon a low-cost electrolyte made of iron, salt and water allowing the cost-effective addition of capacity. In addition, ESS’ iron flow chemistry overcomes challenges associated with Li-Ion batteries, such as toxic electrolytes, cooling requirements and fire risks.

Fundamentally, ESS’ iron flow batteries enable the clean energy transition. Our customers deploy iron flow technology to store excess renewable energy when available and use it when needed. It can support a wide range of applications — time-shifting renewable energy, ancillary grid services, smoothing the intermittency of renewables, supporting capacity needs and more. Due to the inherent safety of iron flow technology, there is no risk of thermal runaway, meaning iron flow batteries can safely operate in wildfire-prone and populated areas.

What factors do you believe are primarily responsible for the grid interconnection delays, and what potential solutions do you see to mitigate these delays?

The challenge primarily lies in an outdated grid and an outdated bureaucracy.

A predominantly renewable grid will look different than the fossil-based system upon which we have relied to date. While the UK’s National Grid has historically had 40 to 50 applications for connections a year, as we usher in the era of renewables, this number has risen to around 400 a year, representing ~234GW of renewable energy waiting to be connected to the grid.

Regulators have been criticised for grid interconnection delays potentially hindering this shift away from fossil fuels, with renewables groups sounding the alarm over UK grid connection delays of up to 13 years. The bureaucracy that manages grid interconnections needs reform to keep pace with the volume of requests. In the short term, transmission grid connections for power projects can be sped up by the UK enacting actions laid out in The Government and Ofgem's jointly published Connections Action Plan. This was released in November and includes key areas of action for the government, Ofgem, the Electricity System Operator (ESO) and network companies.

The plan raises entry requirements to improve the quality of projects applying for transmission connections. For example, the ESO will now require a landowner Letter of Authority to evidence permission from a landowner for a transmission network connection on their land. Both these steps are vital to ensure stalled or ‘zombie’ projects are ejected from the queue, and that capacity is made available for viable projects.

Fortunately, as energy experts continue to highlight the risks to decarbonisation targets, practical actions are being taken to decrease grid connection delays. For example, in November, the National Grid announced that it was accelerating the connection of up to 20GW of clean energy projects, meaning 19 battery energy storage projects worth around 10GW would be offered dates to plug in, averaging four years earlier than their current agreement. This was based on a new approach which removes the need for non-essential engineering works prior to connecting storage.

To limit grid interconnection delays, changes to help regulators slash red tape need to continue, with new policies implemented quickly and effectively.

How crucial is the provision of LDES in accelerating the transition to net-zero, and what role do you envision battery storage playing in addressing the challenges of grid connection delays?

As the world transitions to decarbonised energy systems, emerging LDES technologies will be critical for supporting the wide scale deployment of renewable energy sources. The LDES Council predicts that LDES need to be scaled up dramatically over the next 20 years to build a cost-optimal net-zero energy system, and that by 2040, LDES will need to have scaled up to ~400 times present day levels to 1.5 to 2.5TW (85 to 140TWh).

For all the energy that humans consume on this planet each year in homes, transport and industry, it takes just two minutes of the sun shining on the earth for the same energy to be replenished. But today, we are just not very good at harvesting and utilising this energy.

This is largely due to the inherent intermittency of renewable power generation and a grid designed to rely upon centralised, stationary fossil generation. To date, dispatchable fossil fuels — mostly natural gas — have enabled renewables by managing the variation in wind and solar generation to maintain grid stability. This no longer needs to be the case, as LDES systems can shift electricity from times of high supply to times of high demand, smoothing fluctuations in generation and providing increased flexibility, reliability and stability to the power system.

This is essential when addressing grid connection delays, as LDES can be used to ease transmission congestion by storing excess energy during periods of over-generation and deploying it when needed.

What strategies do you propose for incentivising investment in energy infrastructure while ensuring timely grid connections for renewable projects?

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee recently released its report, ‘Long-duration energy storage: get on with it’, highlighting that the government must act fast to ensure LDES technologies can scale up and contribute to the decarbonisation of the electricity system.

It highlights that developers need a clear business case, supporting infrastructure — such as grid connections — and financial support in order to invest the substantial amount needed to scale up storage to tens of terawatt hours. Energy infrastructure projects can take years to build and the committee’s report outlined that a coordinated effort is needed to unlock the necessary up-front capital investment to build these projects and protect the UK from future energy supply shocks.

Similarly, the government has also recognised that additional financial support mechanisms are needed to enable investment in LDES. The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero set out some parameters of a proposed cap and floor scheme in a consultation in January.

A cap and floor subsidy works by setting an overall revenue cap and floor for a given facility in a contract between the storage facility and the government. If revenues exceed the cap, the extra is returned to the government. If revenues are less than the floor, the government pays the difference to the storage facility. The cap and floor mechanism limits risk by ensuring a minimum revenue, while incentivising the storage facility to operate to reach the revenue cap. This guarantee can drive private investment in necessary infrastructure without the expense of a blanket subsidy.

Contracts for difference, another policy intervention explored in the consultation, work in a similar way and involve agreeing a long-term contract with a ‘strike price’ for electricity usually set through a competitive auction. When the storage facility sells electricity into the wholesale market, the subsidy supplements the sale price to match the strike price — if the sale price exceeds the strike price, the storage owner pays the difference back. The revenue per MWh thereby becomes predictable.

What are the potential benefits and challenges associated with replacing coal-fired power stations with large-scale battery systems?

The transition from coal to clean is taking place worldwide. With existing transmission infrastructure and available land, existing coal power stations are providing ideal locations for future clean energy hubs. With around half of European power plants predicted to be retired by 2030, there is a huge opportunity for existing brownfield sites to be transformed into renewable energy hubs to support the clean energy transition.

This is not merely hypothetical. In eastern Germany, major electricity company Lausitz Energie Verwaltungs (LEAG) plans to transform its Boxberg power station into Europe’s largest-ever clean energy hub. ESS will be supplying a 50MW/500MWh battery system to the energy hub, which is expected to become a standardised building block in LEAG’s plan to ultimately deploy 7 to 14GW of renewable generation, 2 to 3 GWh of long-duration energy storage and up to 2GW of green hydrogen production.

We know that climate change is an urgent problem and that addressing it will require the deployment of clean energy capacity to continue to accelerate. As renewable and energy storage projects scale up, so too must the regulators and bureaucracies that enable them. With pioneering examples such as LEAG’s clean energy hub to light the way and policy frameworks such as CfD and cap and floor, regulators have clear examples to follow that will enable decarbonization while ensuring reliable, resilient energy systems.

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