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Page added on August 4, 2014
Angst… that the Energiewende will work
Energy Transition has a look at the German “Energy Transition” to renewable energy and some of the misconceptions spread about it by its critics – Angst… that the Energiewende will work.
Unlike the Swedes and Italians, the Germans knew how to replace nuclear back in 2002 – and they have even replaced all of the lost nuclear power since 2011. The IER charges the opposite:“Germans have turned to coal to back up their intermittent renewable technologies and to ensure that they have adequate power to satisfy electricity demand.”
This claim is based on a previous paper published by the IER itself (PDF). But as we demonstrate in our study German Coal Conundrum, the growth of renewables since 2011 has already outstripped the reduction in nuclear. And as regular readers of this blog know, demand from foreign countries for German power (the main two being the Netherlands and France in 2013) directly increases the residual load served by conventional plants; specifically, if we zero-out Germany’s record level of net exports in 2013, coal power and carbon emissions drop by around 2.5 percent. If anything, foreign countries have turned to German coal power at a record level; Germany does not need so much electricity from coal to meet its own demand.
We shouldn’t stop counting at the end of 2013, either. The roundup of changes by TWh in the first half of 2014 is in the chart below. Get ready for reports of Germany lowering its emissions this year.
5 Comments on "Angst… that the Energiewende will work"
Arthur on Mon, 4th Aug 2014 8:15 am
The real angst for the German Energiewende is with the Dutch owners of new hyper-efficient natural gas power stations, that are forced to shut down, every time the Germans dump their excess ‘free’ renewable energy on the European supergrid:
http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2844/Archief/archief/article/detail/3305473/2012/08/24/Gascentrales-vaker-stil-door-import-groene-stroom.dhtml
The losses are in the hundreds of millions. Now the Dutch government has additionally pushed their own mega offshore wind development plans, to be completed in ca. 2023.
Anybody who wants to buy a brand new natural gas power station on a per kilo basis?
Davy on Mon, 4th Aug 2014 8:23 am
Art, I would hang on to that hardware. You do know what resilience means and don’t you think those Dutch gas power stations are important aspects of resilience. Besides Europe needs to be realistic with the AltE revolution there. If Europe wants to go further with AltE grid penetration they must have gas backup. I am not sold on the storage solutions proposed nor a new smart grid. Both rely on increased complexity at a time when complexity will be a limits of growth/diminishing return casualty
Kenz300 on Mon, 4th Aug 2014 11:05 am
The transition to safer, cleaner and cheaper alternative energy sources continues to grow around the world.
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Renewables to Receive Lion’s Share of $7.7 Trillion in Global Power Funding
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/07/renewables-to-receive-lions-share-of-7-7-trillion-in-global-power-funding
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Renewables Provide 56 Percent of New US Electrical Generating Capacity in First Half of 2014
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/07/renewables-provide-56-percent-of-new-us-electrical-generating-capacity-in-first-half-of-2014
baptised on Mon, 4th Aug 2014 11:43 am
Germany is a rarity, in that they are a like minded people.
Harquebus on Mon, 4th Aug 2014 7:18 pm
The German renewable industry was built using fossil fuels. When they have to rely on renewable energy only, it will be a different story.