Germany's Renewable Energy Woes

Germany has invested tens of billions of euros in its bid to switch to CO2-free energy sources. Angela Merkel's top aide Peter Altmaier warned that the Energiewende would cost 1 trillion dollars. (1)

So what is Energiewende? It's a raft of different energy policies that can be boiled down to the following plan: phase out nuclear energy while boosting wind and solar by guaranteeing producers long-term, above-market rates called feed-in tariffs. It was a plan that from the outset reflected all the unexamined beliefs central to the modern green movement, and it has been plagued by problems at every step. (2) The feed-in act total subsidy for supporting Energiewende and expanding renewable energies in 2014 cost approximately 24 billion euros. In 2015 the cost was projected to be some 27 billion euros. Yet, in spite of all this, overall Germany's CO2 emissions savings have trended slightly upwards over the past 7 years, including a rise of over 1% in 2015. This has been called a 'blow to the country's claims to climate leadership.' Consumers who once were thinking it wasn't going to cost much are now paying close to the highest electricity prices worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of households are having their power bills cut off because they can no longer afford to pay their power bills. (1)

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Germany's power grid is now more unstable than it has been in decades. That fact in combination with the high electricity prices, is driving industry out. It could get worse! In wake of the lofty declarations made at the Paris Conference to roll back global CO2 emissions, a number of high-level environment ministry bureaucrats in Germany's government have been eagerly concocting a 'radical bill' dubbed 'Climate Protection 2050' designed to make Germany almost carbon-free by 2050. Already the bill's extremism and disconnect from reality are coming under heavy fire. Should the proposal be enacted, it would mean higher rental prices for apartments, higher taxes, mandatory renovations by building owners, speed limits and massive cost hikes for industrial enterprises reported Daniel Wetzel. The bill also calls for eliminating fossil fuel combustion engines in motor vehicles by 2050, which means no internal combustion engine cars will be sold after 2030. Already today Germany's plan to get one million cars onto the streets by 2020 is only some 2% fulfilled, as few are interested in electric cars. (3) Then there are the issues of corruption, corrosion, and technical failures. A heated wind park controversy is boiling over in northwest Germany. Attorneys are now opening investigations on the profiteers of big wind and energy money and how planned wind parks are dividing communities. (4) Offshore North and Baltic Sea wind turbines need to be in operation for 25 years before they become profitable, but they are prone to shortened lifespans due to rust from the harsh sea environment. As a result, the wind turbine installations need extra and very costly maintenance to ensure that they survive long enough. These maintenance and repair cost for offshore wind turbines over the years add up to be a hundred times the cost of the new turbine itself. (5)

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In another case, a major wind park is struggling with major technical problems and thus will not be able to deliver power until at least April. The giant offshore Riffgat wind park hasn't delivered power since November of last year reports Pierre Gosselin. (6) With Germany's renewable energy feed-in act, and with the very volatile sources of sun and wind, Germany's power grid has become a precarious balancing act, and keeping it from collapsing under the load of wild fluctuations has become a real challenge. In 2014 there were more than 3500 emergency grid interventions. The frequency of these has skyrocketed since renewable energies started coming on line. More than a couple of days of blackouts would be a national catastrophe. (7) It's not just Germany. Europe's once world-beating clean technology has fallen into a rapid decline, with investment in low-carbon energy last year plummeting to its lowest level in a decade. As recently as 2010, Europe made up to 45% of global clean energy investment. But after peaking at $132 billion in 2011, investment in the EU plunged by more than half to 18% of the global total, or $58 billion in 2015. (8) Europe's manufacturers have also suffered in the rapid fall. From being a world leader in solar panel manufacturing in the early and mid 2000s, the EU no longer has any companies in the global top 10. Last year, the Chinese company Goldwind took the crown as the world's biggest wind turbine maker, leaving European companies behind. References 1. P. Gosselin, “Grand debacle: Germany's renewable energy effort turning into a colossal costly and senseless failure,” notrickszone.com, March 17, 2016 2. “Germany's Energiewende finds the sour spot,” the-american-interest.com, June 30, 2015 3. P. Gosselin, “Paris fallout,” notrickszone.com, March 21,2016 4. P. Gosselin, “German authorities open investigation into wind energy corruption,” notrickszone.com, February 9, 2016 5. P. Gosselin, “Offshore wind turbine maintenance cost fiasco: 100 times more expensive than a new turbine itself,” notrickszone.com, February 2, 2016 6. P. Gosselin, “Unreliable power: major technical failure sidelines another offshore wind park, adding to the exploding costs,” notrickszone.com, February 4, 2016 7. P. Gosslein, “German power grid more vulnerable than over....on the brink of widespread blackouts,” notrickszone.com, September 24, 2014 8. Fiona Harvey, “European clean tech industry falls into rapid decline,” the guardian.com, March 23, 2016