German Energy Industry Group Sounds Alarm Over Energy Policy, Warns Of Future Power Shortfalls

There was a lot of emphasis on energy technology at this year’s Hannover Industrial Trade Fair, which took place just last week.

Fossil fuel plants unexpendable

Days ago German flagship daily Die Welt here reported that Germany’s energy industry is not happy about the recent developments in the electricity markets. Industry representatives warn that the Energiewende (transition to renewable energies) will not work without conventional power plants.

As mentioned earlier, Germany’s grand coalition government led by Angela Merkel increasingly finds itself struggling to maneuver to appease both industry on one side and Germany’s powerful environmental lobby groups on the other. As electricity prices continue their steep climb and grid stability crumbles, the government may soon find itself paying lip service to climate protection and nothing more.

Energy concept in “worrisome state”

According to Die Welt, Hildegard Müller, Director of the German BDEW industry association representing the energy and water utilities, said in a press release that Germany’s energy concept was in a “worrisome state“. She said “There is nothing in it that helps, but plenty that burdens.”

Other reports mention that Müller was uncharacteristically harsh with her criticism of the government’s tattered energy policy.

Fossil fuel capacity “melting away like butter”

Müller worries that soon there will not be enough conventional power plants operating to ensure a supply of power when wind and solar energy are absent. As companies are forced to buy up wind and solar power and to thus run their conventional power plants over increasingly shorter times, fossil fuel plants are becoming loss-intensive and so many power companies are planning to shut them down entirely. Die Welt reports:

According to figures presented in Hannover by the BDEW, the current over-capacity of conventional power plant facilities is melting away like butter in the spring sun.”

Lack of weather-independent power

Die Welt writes that 53% of planned new power plants are currently lacking an investment decision. So, the question arises: How soon can Germany expect trouble if energy policy fails to get back onto a sensible course? Die Welt writes:

Just after the shutdown of nuclear power plants concludes, in seven years there could be a lack of power plants that can operate independently of the weather.”

“Poorly thought out”, “thousands of jobs” at risk

Müller also calls the government’s plans to burden old power plants with additional charges “poorly thought out” and “politically motivated“. The industry fears the loss of thousands of jobs.

World Bank increases 3rd world investments in coal power

Meanwhile, as an aside, German alarmist site klimaretter.de here writes that even the World Bank refuses to divest from coal power plants.

In 2014, compared to a year earlier, the World Bank expanded investments in coal projects. […] New figures show that 3.4 billion euros in credits, subsidies and guarantees have flowed to fossil fuel projects in developing countries.

In other words, even if Germany does shut down plants, other countries will continue building them and CO2 reductions will remain as nothing  more than a pipe dream.

 

22 responses to “German Energy Industry Group Sounds Alarm Over Energy Policy, Warns Of Future Power Shortfalls”

  1. Joe Chang

    here in the US, Bloomberg et al have been putting out articles on what a smashing success solar and other renewable have been.
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-14/fossil-fuels-just-lost-the-race-against-renewables
    Also, dangerous warming
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-04-17/this-has-been-the-hottest-start-to-a-year-on-record

    1. DirkH

      Bloomberg as a top crony should sure be able to know a good scam when he sees one.

    2. AndyG55

      “this-has-been-the-hottest-start-to-a-year-on-record”

      With Gavin in charge of the non-data fabrication that is GISS, the whole world could be in an ice age and it would still register as “hottest ever”. That is his job.

      Both satellite data sets says, nope !

    3. Herve D

      Bloomberg is funded by leftist democrat billionnaires (certainly refunded +25% by US President Secret Fubdings)to promote CO² and AGW scam worlwide, besetting US influence everywhere.
      No warming for 20 years, CO² emissions on the rise, Sun entering into a multi-decennal exceptional calm period, all indicators towards a cool (perhaps devastating) period.
      Understabnd that those presently earning much cash from this scam keep going, but..
      Why the others stay so bluntly deaf and blind? Are they mediaticus-formatus?

  2. BobW in NC

    I don’t get it… Are the “Greens” totally blind to the critical differences in renewable versus conventional energy production?

    1. Renewable energy is totally unreliable because it is weather-dependent. 2. Renewable energy requires conventional energy backup, otherwise…

    Oh, fiddlesticks, I give up! What are they trying to achieve? Disgusting.

    1. DirkH

      The Greens, as always, are trying to transform a society they hate into their dreamland. This will of course end in catastrophy. Connaisseurs look no further than Berlin Kreuzberg for the Shape Of Things To Come – BTW, a quarter that is as dependent of outside help as the West Bank.

      Greens do not work in industry. They don’t know and they don’t care about how to make things work.

    2. Sceptical Sam

      Don’t give up BobW, whatever you do.

      That’s what they want you to do.

      Persist. Their lies (or stupidity) must be outed on a daily basis.

  3. Stephen Richards

    weather-independent power

    That’s a phrase I shall be using in the future. Perfect description of reliable energy.

    Conversely Weather Dependent energy ………… Useless

    1. AndyG55

      sod has told us in another thread, that wind turbines have ZERO percent reliability. !

      For once he is correct.

      1. sod

        “sod has told us in another thread, that wind turbines have ZERO percent reliability. ! ”

        That is a seriously bad mispresentation of what i really said here:

        https://notrickszone.com/2015/04/18/growing-unrest-german-trade-union-to-protest-co2-plan-that-threatens-100000-jobs-and-affordable-and-reliable-energy/#comment-1025526

        ———————-

        The opposit is true, combined solar and wind are extremely reliable, as you can see by looking at the daily sum of solar and wind production in Germany 2014: (pdf page 42)

        http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/downloads-englisch/pdf-files-englisch/data-nivc-/electricity-production-from-solar-and-wind-in-germany-2014.pdf

        You can rely on 0.1 TWh from the two sources combined on basically everyday and on 0.15TWh on really the vast majority of days.

        1. AndyG55

          quote..

          “The minimal daily sum of Solar and Wind production was 0.022 TWh at 21.01.2014”

          roflmao !!

          Not very reliable, is it. sob !

          your 0% of nameplate wasn’t that far out.

        2. AndyG55

          Did you look at the graph on page 269..

          roflmao !!

          You are JOKING !!!

          Thank goodness for good old conventional COAL and GAS

          1. sod

            “roflmao !! ”

            wil you also laugh, when you look at the output of a coal plant after being switched off?

            Your focus is on those few days with very little output for wind and solar. you will keep laughing while wind and solar replaces 50% of fossil fuels easily…

    2. BobW in NC

      Skeptical Sam: Thank you for the encouragement!

  4. Indur M. Goklany

    The difference between depending on Russia and Middle East oil regimes for your energy on the one hand and the weather on the other hand, is that you can buy the Russians and Middle East regimes but you could never buy the weather.

    1. DirkH

      Actually they have been extremely reliable trade partners. The oil price shock in 1973 was initiated by Kissinger to create a new valuable backing (oil) for the USD after the Gold backing (Bretton Woods) was lifted by Nixon. It wasn’t the idea of the Saudis. Part of the deal was that they took the blame.

  5. sod

    Those running the grid, think that they can handle it. In Germany:

    http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/germany-proves-sun-and-wind-power-can-be-reliable-alternative/article_a5edf728-02ca-5161-9e34-e88e76f1948a.html

    and in California:

    http://www.utilitydive.com/news/cpuc-head-california-grid-can-soon-handle-100-renewables/387395/

    But you folks decide, that theonly valid information on the subject can be received from the coal lobbyists.

    1. DirkH

      sod, the text of your first link reads
      “–––––– – ––––––– –– – ––––––– –––––– –––– ––––– ––––––”
      and so on.

      Are warmunists now talking in Morse code?

      1. sod

        sorry, but i can read it. Here is an important quote:

        “The system Scheibner manages has been so successful that Germany experiences just 15 minutes a year of outages, compared with 68 minutes in France and more than four hours in Poland. The model in Germany, the biggest economy in the world to rely so heavily on renewables, is being copied from California to China as wind and solar displace traditional fuels such as nuclear and coal.

        “Our job has become much more complex,” Scheibner said in an interview from the control center outside Berlin owned by 50Hertz Transmission GmbH, one of Germany’s four main grid operators. “It’s not an easy mission, and it will cost money. But if you are doing it consciously, then it will be doable. We have already come so far.””

        About 4 times more reliable than France. The facts do not support your view of power production.

        1. Alfred Alexander

          read this .._. .._ __._ _._. _._ __._ ___ .._

      2. Graeme No.3

        On the contrary, it makes more sense than he normally does.

        Even above he misses the obvious point that the grid is conventionally powered with a minor addition of “renewables” and keeps going.
        The poor sod believes that it will still keep operating with 100% “renewables”.

        1. DirkH

          He’s just a greedy bastard out to loot subsidies. Notice he insists on it being subsidized, and takes it for granted. He’s a socialist – to each according to his needs. And sod’s needs are limitless. He calls 24 billion Euro subsidy a year “nothing”:
          https://notrickszone.com/2015/04/22/solar-bubble-new-solar-installations-reach-low-in-germany-wind-turbine-loses-its-screws/#comment-1025770

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