Growth was mainly influenced by rising energy prices, new technologies and legal requirements. A lack of skilled employees and a reliable legal framework were the greatest challenge for companies, DENEFF said. The survey “Branchenmonitor Energieeffizienz 2013“ was based on data collected from 63 companies from various sectors ranging from mechanical engineering, consulting on energy-efficient building (Gebäudeenergieberatung), building materials, household appliances and banks as well as existing studies and statistics.

Regarding two recently published studies on the costs, benefits and results of energy-efficient renovations and a new research project on an energy-efficient factory (eta-Fabrik) sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Economics, please see the related posts below.

Related posts:

• Two New Studies on Costs, Benefits and Results of Energy-Efficient Renovations
• Mediation Committee Finally Rejects Act on Fiscal Measures Promoting Energy-Efficient Renovation of Residential Buildings
• Still No Agreement in Mediation Committee with Respect to Solar Feed-In Cuts, Energy-Efficient Renovation and CCS
• Still no Compromise on CCS and Energy-Efficient Renovation Bills
• Dena: Promotion of Energy Efficiency of Buildings Urgently Needed
• BDEW Warns of Underfunding of Energy and Climate Fund and Calls for Improved Promotion of Energy-Efficient Renovation
• Future of Act Promoting Energy-Efficient Renovations Unclear
• Dena/geea Call for Agreement on Tax Privileges for Energy-Efficient Renovation

Lead by the Technischen Universität Darmstadt twelve business companies and five research institutes and universities will work together on the project “eta-Fabrik”. The objective is to reduce primary energy consumption of the industrial production process by up to 40%. To this end a research factory will be built and the production process and the building itself continously optimised with regard to the energy-efficiency.

Federal Minister of Economics Dr. Philipp Rösler pointed out the importance of higher energy efficiency for a successful implementation of Germany’s energy policy shift. Supporting research regarding energy efficiency was therefore an essential element of the government’s energy research programme, he said. BMWi is providing funding worth EUR 7.9 million for the “eta-Fabrik” project. The results shall become part of the training of young scientists and (via an industry working group) influence new construction projects of energy-efficient production sites.

Source: Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi)

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• New Forum to Pool Energy Research Activities in Germany
• Joint Ministry Support Programme for Research into Modern Electricity Grids with National and International Focus
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• Bird & Bird Smart Grids Blog
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The project will result in a modular development plan for possible electricity highways and options for a complete pan-European grid architecture, based on various future power system options such as high Renewable Energy Sources penetration, technology breakthroughs in transmission technologies, innovative active demand-side management etc.

e-Highway2050 is being funded for a period of three years by the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission within the scope of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research.

The new debate about the controversial fracking technology had been caused by demands from Conservative CDU members from Baden-Württemberg, who wanted to ban fracking in the Lake Constance region, the newspaper Welt says. The liberal FDP coalition partner, however, feared that this would mean that other areas close to drinking water areas (Trinkwassereinzugsgebiete) would be exempted as well, leading to a ban of fracking in virtually all of Germany.

In late February the Federal Environment Ministry (BMU) and the Federal Economics Ministry (BMWi) had presented a joint proposal in order to regulate the use of the controversial fracking method for the exploration and extraction of (shale) gas or oil or geothermal energy, setting strict conditions. The proposal provided for a mandatory environmental impact assessment, outlawed fracking in drinking water protection areas and made the involvement of the water authorities and agreement with them mandatory.

The fracking technology, which creates fractures in rocks and rock formations by injecting fluids into cracks to force them further open could potentially lead to contaminations of the ground water, BMU and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) said when presenting a study on the fracking technology in September 2012. Concerns and uncertainties existed in particular with regard to the chemicals injected into the shale rock to break it open and with regard to the disposal of the flowback, they pointed out.

In April German EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger had warned that Germany risked losing its competitiveness given its hesitant stance towards energy issues such as fracking, geothermal energy and the CCS technology.

If a vote on a fracking bill will take place before the political summer recess or the Federal Election on 22 September 2013 remains currently unclear.

Source: Welt

It extends the scope of the investigation, examining not only possible affects of grid expansion onshore, but also in the territorial sea (Küstenmeer).

The first German Federal Requirement Plan for Transmission Networks was recently approved by Parliament. It will set the course of the expansion of transmission networks in Germany. The Federal Council, that represents the interests of the sixteen German states, will vote on it at the beginning of June.

According to the German Energy Act (EnWG), a Federal Requirement Plan has to be passed by Parliament at least every three years. In line with its legal obligations BNetzA is in the process of preparing the annual update of the Electricity Grid Development Plan (NEP), on which the Federal Requirement Plans are based. This includes not only a review of all the measures proposed by the transmission operators (TSOs) concerning grid expansion and enhancement, but also the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SUP) pursuant to the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (UVPG).

While the investigation criteria shall not change, the scope of SUP shall be extended, as BNetzA has to review not only the measures proposed in the onshore Electricity NEP 2013, but also the offshore NEP 2013, which the TSOs submitted in March 2013. Apart from overhead and underground power lines, the use of submarine cables will have to examined as another transmission technology. To this end BNetzA has developped special criteria.

Besides, SUP 2013 shall extend the investigation of alternatives regarding the measures proposed for onshore grid expansion compared with 2012. In the Electricity NEP Strom 2013 the TSOs proposed three different scenarios for the electricity generation and consumption until 2023. BNetzA intends to compare the possible environmental impact regarding the scenarios A 2023 and C 2023 with the scenario B, the lead scenario.

Comments regarding SUP 2013, which can be found online at www.netzausbau.de/untersuchungsrahmen-2013, can be made by public authorities and associations concerned until 31 May 2013. BNetzA will subsequently assess the comments, revise SUP 2013 and publish an update.

Source: Federal Network Agency

The amendments contain provisions intended to further improve health protection, e.g. a ban on new overhead power lines spanning residential housing. Besides the ordinance stipulates that electric and magnetic fields have to be minimised when grids are expanded.  Details for this minimisation shall be contained in a future administrative regulation (Verwaltungsvorschrift). The ordinance will in the future not only cover high frequency and low frequency installations, but also direct current (DC) installations.  Certain grandfathering rules apply (cf. Article 1, no. 10).

The Federal Cabinet adopted the ordinance with the changes requested last Friday by the Federal Council (Bundesrat), the legislative body that represents the interests of the sixteen German states (Länder) on the federal level. The latest amendments provide for a faster implementation of the requirements concerning the construction of low frequency installations and the ban on overhead power lines spanning residential housing than originally envisaged. The draft ordinance will once again be submitted to the Bundestag and is expected to enter into force in July.

Source: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety

Related posts

• Article on German Legal Regime for High Voltage Direct Current Power Lines
• BVerwG on Overhead vs. Underground Transmission Lines Outside of EnLAG Pilot Project Areas
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Until 2020 greenhouse gas emissions shall be lowered by at least 25% compared with 1990 and by 90% until 2050. In addition to the Climate Protection Act an “Integrated Energy and Climate Protection Concept” is currently being drafted following voluntary participation by the public.

Baden-Württemberg’s Environment Minister Franz Untersteller called the climate protection goals “ambitious” and “surely not easy to reach”. Yet by making them law, the aim to minimise harmful greenhouse gas emissions had to be considered in all political and planning decisions as it was already the case for the protection of nature and species, the government pointed out.

Apart from the greenhouse gas reduction goals, the Climate Protection Act contains specific suggestions for implementation. To this end the “Integrated Energy and Climate Protection Concept”, which is in the making, will detail specific areas of action regarding energy savings and energy efficiency for various sectors like transport agriculture, industry and private households. It shall be passed by the government until the end of the year.

Source: Baden-Württemberg

Related posts:

• NRW Adopts Climate Protection Act
• Baden-Württemberg Enacts New Wind Power Decree
• Parliament of Baden-Württemberg Supports Expansion of Wind Turbines

Integrating the (fluctuating) input of renewable energy into the electricity grids was critical for the German energy policy shift towards a renewable energy supply and working towards this goal one of the main tasks of BNetzA, the agency said. It pointed out that it reviewed and approved the first electricity grid development plan, which the transmission operators are required to submit pursuant to the German Energy Act (EnWG), in 2012.

Based on the grid development plan the German Bundestag (Federal Parliament) recently adopted the “Second Law Concerning Measures to Accelerate the Expansion of the Electricity Grids, which contains the “Federal Requirement Plan for Transmission Networks”. The Requirement Plan sets out 36 transmission power line projects, which are considered necessary and urgent in the sense of the EnWG within the next ten years. They shall therefore receive special regulatory treatment to accelerate grid expansion. The final vote on the bill in the Federal Council (Bundesrat) that represents the legal interests of the sixteen German states on the federal level, is scheduled for June 2013. BNetzA therefore expects the individual planning and permitting procedures to start this summer. The agency was well prepared for its new tasks concerning grid expansion and wanted to cooperate closely with the federal states, Mr Homann emphasised.

Wherever possible competition should be the driving force in the generation sector, BNetzA said, adding that the markets needed to provide stronger signals than today. The growing input of renewable energy in the grids affected the profitability of conventional power plants, since renewable energy had priority in the grids (pursuant to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG)) and had to be purchased and remunerated with fixed feed-in tariffs (that exceed the electricity prices at the energy exchange). The problem would probably increase with a further growing amount of renewable energy. In order to reach the energy policy goals (which include inter alia the security of supply), a new set of market rules was needed that provided reliable investment signals for renewable as well as conventional generation, BNetzA demanded. Regarding the latest efforts to reform the EEG, please see here.

In April 2012 the average electricity price for household customers amounted to 26.06 ct/kWh. This was an increase of 2.4% compared with the previous year, despite the price-dampening effects of changes of suppliers and tariff changes, BNetzA reported (regarding the increase of the EEG surcharge for 2012, please see here.) In view of almost 40% of the household customers with no special supply arrangements (Grundversorgung), the most expensive form of supply, BNetzA president Jochen Homann called again on customers to check for cheaper options for supply and consider changing the supplier.

Source: Federal Network Agency

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• Federal Network Agency Presents Annual Report 2011 and Warns of Slow Grid Expansion

Technology and innovation were crucial to the EU energy challenges complementing EU energy legislation in a constantly evolving energy landscape, the Communication says. Therefore the EU needed to do more to bring new, high performance low-cost, low-carbon sustainable energy technologies to the market to achieve all of the EU 2020 objectives in energy, climate, economic and social policy, as well as those for 2030 and 2050, the Communication concludes.

The document stresses the need for accelerating innovation in cutting edge low-carbon technologies and innovative solutions, for reducing costs rapidly and speeding up the introduction of new technologies to the market.

Among the measures proposed are the development of an Integrated Roadmap addressing the energy system as a whole and measures along the entire innovation chain by the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan stakeholders and the design of Action Plans with Member States (A European SET Plan Conference will take place in Dublin, Ireland on 7-8 May 2013 holding discussions on EU progress in accelerating the development and market roll-out of energy technologies).

Energy efficiency was increasing its visibility through creation of a coordination structure under the Steering Group of the SET Plan for the promotion of investments in research and innovation in the field of energy efficiency, the Communication stresses.

BDEW pointed out that research into the following areas was necessary: reliable centralised and decentralised energy storage devices for balancing supply and demand on an hourly, daily and long-term basis, a new transmission infrastructure that enables transmission of electricity over long distances, the development of smart distribution networks that help to improve the balancing of electricity generated away from the places of demand and local demand. Besides, new tools for customers were necessary that provided better information and incentives for customers concerning an optimised demand (demand-side management), BDEW said, adding that none of the above topics should be regarded in isolation.

Source: EU Commission; BDEW

Germany needs to expand its distribution and transmission grids to accommodate the growing input of renewable energy. This is particularly the case for on- and offshore wind power generated in Northern Germany and consumed to a large extent in the industrial areas in Western and Southern Germany.

The article describes the legal regime under the German Energy Act (EnWG), the Energy Line Extension Act (EnLAG) of 2009 and the Grid Expansion Acceleration Act for Transmission Networks (NABEG) of 2011, their individual scopes and interplay. It also deals with the legal and factual aspects regarding the environmental impact of overhead and underground high voltage direct current power lines, immissions (noise due to corona discharge) and electromagnetic fields. Overhead direct current lines can in certain cases have considerable advantages over AC overhead power lines.

Of the 36 transmission power line projects contained in the “Federal Requirement Plan for Transmission Networks” (for more information, please click here), which was adopted by Parliament this month, 8 projects are marked as possible pilot projects for low loss transmission over large distances, allowing the grid operators to test this technology.

Source: Recht der Energiewirtschaft, vol. 4-5 2013, page 145 et seq.

Related post:

• Parliament Adopts Federal Requirement Plan for Electricity Transmission Networks