From blackout-news.de

Germany’s CO2 emissions are rising: Why the expansion of renewable energies is stagnating

Germany has missed its goal of reducing CO2 emissions and the expansion of renewable energies is faltering.

The federal government has published a tender for new onshore wind farms, but only 203 megawatts (MW) bids have been submitted – although the Federal Network Agency originally wanted to tender 1190 MW.

Since the interest of investors was low, the authority had to reduce the amount to 604 MW. Nevertheless, investor interest remains subdued and the tender was unsuccessful. (DER SPIEGEL, 20.12.22)

Renewable Energy: The Challenges for Investors

The expansion of renewable energies is not going as politicians had imagined.

Wind energy companies complain about rising costs for raw materials, supply problems and many bureaucratic hurdles when they want to build new plants.

As a result, they invest less.

The federal government had tendered 202 MW of solar systems on buildings and noise barriers, but bids were only received for 128 MW. Inflation and high lending rates have made the situation even worse this year.

Therefore, the expansion lags far behind the plans of the politicians.

The VDMA Power Systems Association warns – Dangers due to uncertainties in the wind energy market

The VDMA Power Systems Association represents, among others, wind turbine manufacturers.

Dennis Rendschmidt, Managing Director of the trade association, warns of the dangers arising from the uncertainty of the market for the future expansion of onshore wind energy.

He sees a reluctance in the market that must be stopped.

Due to rising costs and interest rates, it is difficult to economically map projects with the previously valid maximum value.

In order to revive the market, appropriate measures must be taken to promote the operation of wind turbines.

Germany is moving away from conventional electricity and towards renewable energies

In Germany, 44.6 percent of electricity will come from renewable sources this year, an increase of four percentage points compared to last year.

However, the share of climate-damaging coal-fired power generation will also rise from 28.5 percent to 31.9 percent.

This is due to the nuclear phase-out and the war-related failure of Russian gas supplies.

Nuclear power plants will still contribute six percent to electricity generation in Germany this year, compared to the six nuclear reactors last year, which accounted for just under twelve percent.

Gas-fired power plants will contribute 13.5 percent of electricity generation in 2021, up from 15.4 percent last year.

With the shutdown of the last nuclear power plants in April next year, the share of fossil fuels is likely to rise again next year due to the stagnating expansion of renewable energies.