By Jack Dini ——Bio and Archives--September 29, 2025
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A damning special report released by Germany’s Federal Audit Office on the implementation of the Energiewende (transition to green energy) concludes that the transition is lagging far behind its ambitious targets, both in terms of expanding renewable energies and building the necessary infrastructure. (1)
The Federal Audit Office also found other serious problems with the country’s revamping of its energy supply. There is also a considerable risk that security of supply will be jeopardized due to the huge supply gap created by the phase-out of nuclear energy.
In addition, the Federal Audit office found that electricity prices will continue to rise and that transition to green energies is a costly undertaking that consumers will have to finance via the feed-in surcharges. Germans not only will have to deal with an unreliable supply, but one that is painfully expensive.
Also, there is a risk that the expansion of renewable energy will have a negative impact on the environment, e.g. through paving over land, deforestation, destruction of biotopes and the death of birds and bats and wind turbines falling down. (1)
The costs of Germany’s power grid have more than doubled within ten years. Network fees to be paid by consumers and companies this year amount to 33 billion euros. In 2015, it was only 15.9 billion euros. (2)
The reason for the increase is the energy transition—the share of renewables in electricity generation is increasing, which is why the power grid and its controllers have to be rebuilt completely.
Driven by aggressive climate goals and political pressure, the German government shut down nuclear power plants and invested in wind and solar energy. The result? Skyrocketing electricity prices, a less stable power grid, and increased dependence on foreign energy sources. (3)
It didn’t have to be this way. If Germany had invested in nuclear power rather than wind and solar, it would have been cheaper, and the country’s carbon emissions would have been significantly lower as well.
Germany’s latest offshore wind auction failed to attract a single bid on August 6th, alarming the local offshore wind, which is calling for a fundamental revamp of Germany’s renewable energy auctions. This was Germany’s second offshore wind auction round so far this year. Both have been ‘no subsidy’ auctions, and both have been unsuccessful. (4)
The auction, described as a ‘flop’ by analysts, signaled that offshore wind power developers are wary of taking on riskier, zero-subsidy projects amid rising costs and supply chain issues.
Germany’s energy woes, brought on by its failed attempt at transitioning to green energies, continues to mount. The expansion of AI data centers is facing a significant slowdown due to a global lack of sufficient power supply. (5)
In Frankfort, Germany industry experts report a critical shortage of grid capacity leading to stalled projects. The massive energy needs of AI are outpacing the development of power grids and severely hindering growth. In the second quarter of 2025, the German economy shrank 0.3%, worse than expectations.
DAX companies (blue chip stock market) are cutting jobs on a massive scale, 30,000 lost within a year, thus confirming the country’s industrial decline. This corresponds to a decrease of 0.9 percent. The demand for employees is likely to decline, industry experts emphasize. (5)
The share of electric cars in new registration in Germany plummeted 27.5% in 2024 compared to the previous year. There are many reasons for the collapse in new registrations, but the end of government purchase subsidies at the turn of 2023-2024 plays a central role. (6)
Germany’s uncontrolled solar production without appropriate storage and consumption models is putting a huge burden on the domestic market and consumers. At the same time, neighboring countries are benefitting from all the free electricity Germany uncontrollably overproduces and consumers just don’t need. (7)
The country’s massive solar power production is leading to a growing problem due to mass overproduction and the resulting negative electricity prices, which occur particularly when the sun is shining midday and demand is low: all the surplus electricity flows abroad, free of charge. This sort of absurdity is what happens when politicians and bureaucrats take over energy engineering.
Clearing of 2000 hectares in one of the last undisturbed forests began as the State of Hesse issued the construction approval of a massive industrial wind park. (8)
In the Reinhardswald near Kassel, known as the Fairy Tale Forest, a previously untouched natural and cultural landscape with trees over 500 years old, is being irreversibly destroyed. Why? To protect nature and the climate, the wind industry and green proponents claim. (9)
It’s a great environmental tragedy and crime against nature. The region, which plays a central role in the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, is being transformed into a large-scale industrial construction site comprising 18 large scale turbines.
The local population, in particular the seven surrounding communities, are protesting unitedly against the project and have organized citizens’ initiatives. But despite the opposition and ongoing legal proceedings, construction work is progressing rapidly. (9)
A 70-meter long rotor blade of a V150 wind turbine fell from eight of 123 meters at the Lubbenow wind farm in Germany, heightening concerns about the safety of wind turbines.
The incident raises questions about just how safe wind turbines really are. The incident is one in a series of technical defects. In January 2017, a rotor blade broke near Zichow, presumable due to a pitch control failure. In 2016, an entire wind turbine tower collapsed in Grimmen. A short time later, a Nordex 149 tower in Gustow had to be taken down for safety reasons. This affected a total of 18 identical turbines in Germany following a collapse in the Ruhr area in 2021 due to a design fault. The Brandenburg Ministry of the Environment counted five accidents within two and a half years as of August 2023. (10)
In Germany, the good times and prosperity are on the brink, economy is stuck in a multi-year recession, producers laying off staff by the hundreds of thousands, costs for energy, food and rent are going through the roof, the outlook for the future is bleak. (11)
The head of transmission system operator Amprion, Christoph Muller warns that Germany’s energy supply is facing a challenging winter due to a lack of power plant capacity as the nuclear and planned coal plants continue to get phased out. This could lead to targeted power outages and soaring electricity prices, he warns. (12)
If one looks for the reasons for this misery, one quickly finds a common denominator: Germany’s prescribed transformation to a CO2-free economy, which involves an extremely costly total restructuring of almost the entire infrastructure and industry.
The green transformation will continue to ruin the industry, which is already under severe strain, or drive it abroad. To top it all off, the judiciary is now being handed over to green forces on a silver platter. (11)
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John William Dini, know to all as ‘Jack’, passed away at the age of 89 on June 17, 2026. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio on Nov. 14, 1936.
He published two books, a technical book on materials science and coatings and another on environmental issues. In retirement, he wrote extensively on various environmental issues for online publications.
He was a skilled leaded glass hobbyist, creating more than 20 lamps and many panels. He was a jogger for many years, competing in over 300 long distance races. He was a slow runner, not wanting to take the glory away from others. His secret was to start slow and taper. He and Anne traveled extensively, visiting over 70 countries.
He is survived by his wife, Anne, of 67 years, and sons Mike, Steve, and Paul. If you were to meet him somewhere, he would sum up his life as ‘peaches and cream’.