THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - AUGUST 2018
Europe News 7
Renewables rise in
n Green growth puts pressure on grid system n More tenders needed to reach goals
Siân Crampsie
Renewable energy is continuing to
overtake fossil fuels as Germany’s
main source of power as the country
continues its Energiewende policy.
German industry group BDEW said
last month that renewable energy generation
passed an important milestone
in the first half of 2018, becoming the
single largest power source ahead of
coal in the country’s gross power production
mix.
However the group warned that the
figures show that an accelerated power
grid expansion in Germany is “more
necessary than ever before”, and that
the country still lacks a reliable backup
system for periods of low renewables
output.
This problem will intensify as more
coal plants close, and when Germany’s
last nuclear plant closes in 2022.
According to BDEW, renewable
energy sources increased their output
by 10 per cent between the first half
of 2017 and the same period one year
later, raising their share in the power
mix from 32.5 to 36.3 per cent in 2018.
Onshore wind power saw the biggest
increase of all renewable sources,
bringing its share in output up from
12.5 per cent to 14.7 per cent in one
year.
Power generation from hard coal
dropped significantly from 15.6 per
cent to 12.6 per cent, and that from
lignite decreased slightly, from 22.9 to
22.5 per cent. The use of gas dropped
by more than one percentage point to
12.3 per cent of the gross power production
mix, while that of nuclear energy
grew by one percentage point to
11.3 per cent.
In June, Germany’s government
launched a coal exit commission,
tasked with managing the definite
phase-out of Germany’s coal plants
without causing major economic disruptions
in the affected regions. One
month later, parliament passed an
amendment to the Atomic Energy Act
approving the accelerated phase-out of
nuclear energy.
Germany’s new coalition government
has given up hopes of meeting its
climate target of reducing carbon emissions
to 40 per cent by 2020. It now
expects to limit emissions to 32 per
cent, compared to 1990 levels, due to
unexpected economic and population
growth.
In July VDMA Power Systems said
that the German government’s targets,
which also include covering 65 per
cent of the country’s power generation
from renewable energies by 2030,
could be attained if it committed to
adding more offshore wind energy to
the power mix.
According to VDMA, energy policy
in Germany has come to a “standstill”
and the coalition government needs to
hold additional tenders for offshore
wind energy as soon as possible. There
should also be a rapid increase of the
expansion paths for all renewables,
VDMA said.
Germany has 5387 MW of offshore
wind capacity in operation, and a further
1944 MW under construction, half
of which is expected to be on line by
the end of 2018.
Germany’s transmission system operator
(TSO) TenneT has also called
for an “optimisation” of Germany’s
offshore wind sector with an additional
capacity auction and the linking of
wind farms in the German North Sea
to the Dutch grid.
A body of independent advisors has
cautioned the UK government against
rushing to support multiple new nuclear
power stations so that it can be flexible
in the future over low carbon energy
choices.
The National Infrastructure Commission
(NIC) has published the
country’s first ever National Infrastructure
Assessment, and says that
switching to greener forms of energy
need not mean higher energy bills for
consumers, and that there is a “golden
opportunity” to decarbonise the UK’s
energy systems.
The NIC notes in its assessment that
after Hinkley Point C, the government
should only agree support for one
more nuclear plant before 2025, and
that investment should be directed
into renewable technologies such as
wind and solar.
It has also recommended that the
government sets out clear dates and
budgets for future renewables auctions,
and that efforts in energy efficiency
should be ramped up.
Currently, around 30 per cent of the
UK’s electricity comes from renewable
sources like wind and solar power
– up from 12 per cent only five years
ago. The National Infrastructure Assessment
recommends that the government
take steps to push this even
further and ensures that a minimum of
50 per cent of electricity comes from
renewables in 2030.
The assessment report came just days
before National Grid published its Future
Energy Scenarios (FES) report, a
document that examines how the
evolving energy landscape in the UK
might look in 30 years.
The FES report suggests that the UK
would meet its 2050 carbon target if
rapid decarbonisation is achieved
through, for example, the rapid uptake
of electric vehicles, renewables
growth as well as improved energy
efficiency.
Chairman of the National Infrastructure
Commission Sir John Armitt said:
“Whether for cooking, lighting, keeping
homes warm or electric cars on
the road, where the UK’s energy
comes from will need to change radically
over the coming decades if the
UK is to meet its legally-binding climate
change targets.
“If we act now we have a golden opportunity
to make our country greener,
and protect the money in the pockets
of consumers long into the future –
something few of us expected to be
able to do.
“Ministers can seize this chance by
investing in renewables and other lowcarbon
technologies so they become
the main players in our energy system
– something that was considered a
pipe-dream as little as a decade ago.
But they need to act now to realise the
full potential of what can be
achieved.”
National Grid’s FES report suggests
that reaching the UK’s carbon targets
by 2050 would require an installed
offshore wind capacity of over 40 GW.
There would also be over 33 million
EVs on the road by 2038, and widespread
use of hydrogen in the commercial
transport sector. Its analysis also
notes the importance of energy storage
and interconnectors linked to other
electricity markets.
“Market development, new technologies
and new ways of designing
and operating networks will be needed
to address the operational challenges
that arise,” National Grid said.
Under the Climate Change Act 2008,
the UK must reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by 80 per cent from 1990
levels by 2050.
n The UK government has rejected the
possibility of awarding funding to the
proposed 320 MW Swansea Bay tidal
lagoon project in Wales because it
would not meet the requirements for
value for money. Developer Tidal Lagoon
Power is developing a total of six
tidal schemes around the UK and had
approached the government for a contracts
for difference (CFD) agreement
for Swansea.
Renewable energy developers in Ireland
will be able to move forward with
shovel-ready projects after the government
approved a long-awaited
renewable energy support scheme
(RESS).
Ireland’s Minister for Communications,
Climate Action and Environment,
Denis Naughten, announced in
July that he had secured Cabinet approval
for the scheme and would now
seek State Aid approval from the EU.
He added that the RESS would encourage
community participation
while meeting the government’s policy
objective of increasing technology
diversity and energy security.
The new RESS will be based around
competitive auctions, the first of
which will be held in 2019 and aimed
at getting shovel-ready renewable
energy projects on-line as quickly as
possible.
RESS auctions will be held at frequent
intervals and will support solar
and offshore wind. It will provide for
a renewable electricity ambition of up
to 55 per cent by 2030.
“While the auction approach will
provide a route to market for multiple
technologies, it will do so in a
competitive, cost effective framework,”
said Naughten. “The use of
certain ‘levers’, such as near term
delivery dates and ‘single technology
caps’, will accelerate the broadening
of the renewable technology mix, particularly
in light of falling costs for a
number of renewable technologies.”
The government has proposed auctioning
up to 1000 GWh in the first
auction, with no technology caps. Successful
projects will be awarded floating
feed-in premium (FiP) contracts,
where payments are made to generators
based on generation output, a
strike price and a reference market
price.
Ireland is at risk of not meeting its
2020 renewable energy targets and the
government has been criticised for
delaying the implementation of a new
renewable energy support mechanism.
Ireland’s Solar Energy Association
(ISEA) says that up to 2 GW
of solar energy capacity could be deployed
by the end of 2020 as there is
currently 600 MW of PV capacity
with planning consent and a further
1.4 GW in the planning system.
Germany
UK warned on
nuclear policy
Long-awaited
RESS approved
in Ireland
n First auction in 2019
n Contracts based on floating FiP
mechanism