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.
Offshore Wind
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.