Energy Transition The German Energiewende By Craig Morris, Martin Pehnt An initiative of the Heinrich Böll Foundation Released on 28 November 2012 Revised July 2016 www.energytransition.de Imprint Authors: Craig Morris Martin Pehnt Editors: Rebecca Bertram Stefanie Groll Kathrin Glastra Design: Lucid. Berlin Released on 28 November 2012 Revised July 2016 Heinrich Böll Stiftung Schumannstr. 8 10117 Berlin Germany Phone: +49 – (0)30 – 285 34 – 0 Fax: +49 – (0)30 – 285 34 – 109 Email: [email protected] You can also contact one of our 29 offices worldwide working all on energy and climate issues About us The Heinrich Böll Foundation – is a catalyst for green visions and projects, a think tank for policy reform, and an international network. The primary objectives guiding our work are establishing democracy and human rights, fighting against environmental degradation, safeguarding everyone’s rights of social participation, supporting non-violent conflict resolu- tion and defending the rights of individuals. We work with 160 project partners in over 60 countries and currently maintain offices in 31 countries. Authors Craig Morris – Born in the United States, Craig has been living in Germany since 1992 and working in the renewables sector since 2001. In 2002, he founded Petite Planète, a transla- tion and documentation agency focusing on renewables. He is the author of two books in German and English, has served as editor of several energy magazines, and is contributing editor at Renewables International. In 2013 and 2014, he served as technical editor of IRENA’s REmap 2030, and in 2014, he won the IAEE’s award for journalism in energy eco- nomics. He is co-author of the book “Energy Democracy.” Martin Pehnt – A trained physicist, Martin is scientific and managing director of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (ifeu), where he also heads the Energy Department. He previously worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (USA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). He now serves as an advisor for many national and international organizations, including German federal ministries, the Environmental Protection Agency, environmental NGOs, utilities, the World Bank, IRENA and the GIZ. Pehnt teaches at various universities. Editors Rebecca Bertram – is the Director of the Energy and Environment Program at the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Washington office. Her work focuses on building a global and transatlantic dialogue on German and European energy and climate policy. Rebecca holds a Masters degree in International Affairs and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Stefanie Groll – is the Head of Department for Environmental Policy and Sustainability at the headquarters of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Her main focus is the promotion of the German energy transition and questions regarding the decarbonization of the economy. Stefanie is ac- tive in the anti-coal and climate movement in Germany. She holds a PhD in political science and is a communications expert. Kathrin Glastra – is the Liaison for Energy Transition in Western Europe and Deputy Director of the Climate and Energy Program at the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s EU office in Brussels. She coordinates the Foundation’s network EnergyTransition@EU, a joint project between the offices in Berlin, Brussels, Prague and Warsaw. This network aims at discussing challenges and opportunities of energy transitions in Europe; strengthening a mutual, solution-oriented dialogue among the EU Member States and promoting visions for a European Energy Tran- sition. Kathrin holds an MA in Political Science, Law and Spanish and an MA in Advanced European Studies from the College of Europe (Bruges). cc energytransition.de Silvia Weko – is the project assistant for the German Energy Transition project. at the head- quarters of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. She is currently pursuing an MA in European His- tory at the Humboldt University in Berlin. Media Development Lucid. Berlin – as a media solutions laboratory, Lucid develops tools and designs which enable foundations, NGOs and institutions to inform, foster dialog and involve people. “www.energytransition.de” is the second international web project after discover boell that lucid has designed and produced for the Heinrich Böll Foundation. About the project Germany has drawn a lot of international attention for its aim to switch to a renewable en- ergy economy and leave nuclear and fossil energy behind. A lot of the international reporting about the German Energy Transition, or Energiewende, has, however, been misleading – for instance, when it comes to the role of coal power, energy price trends, competitiveness and carbon emissions. This website aims to explain what the Energiewende is, how it works, and what challenges lay ahead. It is intended to provide facts and explain the politics and policies to an inter- national audience. The website highlights the effects of theEnergiewende on the German economy, environment and society and addresses the most important related questions. We also aim to highlight that energy transitions can be structured very differently around the world depending on the energy mix and policy priorities of individual countries. On our Energiewende Blog, a team of international energy experts write on how the German energy transition continues and how it relates to other countries. All the texts and graphs except for blog posts are under Creative Commons License (CC BY SA) with the aim to make this information available to the public. We encourage you to use the materials in your work. In return, we would appreciate it if you would let us know what you have used. Blog posts can be reposted in exceptional cases. Please contact us if you wish to use this material. We welcome your feedback and encourage you to comment and discuss the German Energiewende with us. cc energytransition.de Content 1 Why the Energiewende .........................................1 4 History of the Energiewende ...............................55 A – Fighting climate change ........................................2 Timeline Energiewende ........................................56 B – Reducing energy imports .......................................4 A – Origin of the term “Energiewende” .....................58 C – Stimulating technology innovation and B – Wyhl – the nuclear plant that never was .............58 the green economy .................................................5 C – The oil crisis .........................................................59 D – Reducing and eliminating the risks D – Chernobyl – change comes slowly ...................... 60 of nuclear power .....................................................6 E – Full-cost compensation for photovoltaics ...........61 E – Energy security .......................................................8 F – EU court says feed-in tariffs are “not state aid” ..62 F – Strengthening local economies and G – Renewable Energy Act (EEG)................................62 providing social justice ..........................................9 5 European perspectives ...................................... 64 2 Technology as a key issue ................................... 11 A – Energy Transition – Think european ....................65 A – Efficiency ............................................................... 12 B – Poland’s Energiewende. No, not a Polish joke. B – Less electricity from coal ..................................... 15 A European transition.......................................... 66 C – Wind power ...........................................................18 C – The frontrunner – is Denmark losing its D – Biomass .................................................................20 position? ...............................................................67 E – Photovoltaics (PV) ................................................22 D – Beyond the COP: the state of affairs of F – Other renewables .................................................24 the French energy transition ............................... 69 G – Grid and power storage ........................................26 E – Energy in the Czech Republic: baby steps H – Flexible power production (no more baseload) ... 29 forward, but nuclear plans still dominatee . ....... 70 I – Energy by the people for the people .................... 31 F – Energy Transition in Spain – J – Sector Coupling ....................................................34 which way forward? .............................................73 G – Austria and its energy transition: 3 Policies for clean energy .....................................35 Passive politicians as key risk .............................74 A – Nuclear phase-out ................................................36 H – Dazed and confused? The UK’s energy policy B – Renewable Energy Act with feed-in needs a sense of direction ...................................76 tariffs and auctions ...............................................38 C – Emissions trading .................................................42 6 International perspectives ..................................78 D – Environmental taxation ....................................... 44 A – Opportunity to Leapfrog into the Renewable E – Cogeneration Act ................................................. 46 Age – Is India on the Right Track? ...................... 79 F – Renewable Energy Heating Act and B – A Struggle between Coal and Renewable Market Incentive Program (MAP) .........................47