GEB News 8/2013
The Easter Break slightly slowed down the flow of energy news. But here's the overview from the past two weeks
The Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has extended the deadline for comments on a “Guideline Establishing the Damages Payable to Operators of Offshore Power Plants in Case of a Disruption of the Connecting Power Line, a Connection Delay or Maintenance Work, Which Are Passed on the End Consumers” (Leitfaden zur Ermittlung einer umlagefähigen Entschädigung bei Störung, [...]
On the occasion of the Hanover trade fair, the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry (BDEW) published an updated list of power plant projects in various project stages. Although the list contained 38 GW of new build, the commissioning dates for almost a third of the plants were uncertain, BDEW said, blaming market [...]
The search for a permanent nuclear waste disposal site starts again, but shall not exclude the salt dome in Gorleben, Lower Saxony. This is the result of a meeting of the federal government, the federal states and the political parties yesterday. They agreed to submit a bill concerning a “Location Search Act” (Standortsuchgesetz) for a permanent nuclear waste [...]
Gas consumption in the first quarter of 2013 rose by 5%, while electricity consumption fell by 1%, according to the latest preliminary figures released by the Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry (BDEW) at the start of the Hanover trade fair 2013.
Natural gas in the 48 storage facilities in Germany fell to a record low of 20%, the newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported based on data of the trade association Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE).
On 5 April 2012, the Federal Network Agency has published the draft scenario framework for the National Electricity Grid Development Plan (NEP 2014) and the Offshore Grid Development Plan (O-NEP 2014). It also started the consultation process in accordance with Section 12a (2) German Energy Act which will end on 17 May 2013, including a [...]
Renewable energy marketed by the TSOs amounted to 11,717 GWh in the first three months of 2013, compared to 17,853 GWh in the same period 2012.
New solar power plant capacity was again moderate, with additions of plants eligible for feed-in tariffs pursuant to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) amounting to 211.215 MWp in February 2013, the Federal Network Agency reported.
On 24 March 2013 the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), and the State of Lower Saxony have presented a joint proposal with the aim to submit a “Location Search Act” (Standortsuchgesetz). The bill shall provide a basis to identify a permanent nuclear waste disposal site in Germany.
In an interview with the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), German EU Energy Commissionar, Günther Oettinger, a long-time critic of Germany’s high energy prices, has warned that Germany might lose its competitiveness given its hesitant stance towards energy issues such as fracking, geothermal energy and the CCS technology. He welcomed the recent debate about a [...]
Clearingstelle EEG (EEG Clearing Agency) provided new advice concerning the so-called market integration provision pursuant to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) for solar energy as applicable as of 1 April 2012 (with the exception of a grandfathering rule, cf. 66 para. 19 sent. 1 EEG).
Two new studies by the state-owned development bank KfW and by the German Energy Agency (dena) provided new information on the costs, benefits and results of energy efficient renovations. They show that while the envisaged energy savings are almost always met (dena study), investment costs are high and are not always offset by the energy [...]
