Renewable Energy Policies of the World: Germany

Author’s note: The purpose of this article is to shed light on not just one, but a number of the Renewable Energy policies currently being used in Germany. Any opinions expressed on such policies are solely that of the author, and are in no way representative of the views of the Texas Tech University Wind Institute

Throughout the world, Germany is known not only as a country rich in culture, arts, and engineering, but also as a leader in renewable energy policy. As of June 23, 2014, Germany ranks as number 7 in the list of top ten countries that generate the most electricity from Renewable Resources[1]. See the top 10 in Figure 1 below.

As can be seen from Figure 1 above, Germany generates 126 billion kw hours of clean electricity off of renewable resources. While this number only makes up 23.4% of Germany’s total electricity consumption[1], what is important to note is the diversity of their electricity production portfolio. As can be seen above, Hydroelectric energy makes up 80%+ of the renewable energy in China, Brazil, Canada, Russia, India, and Norway. As a matter of fact, Hydroelectric power is the lead clean electricity producer in all of the top ten countries except for Germany and Spain, where Wind Energy makes the majority. The key point of note is the healthy distribution of percentages for different renewable energy methods in Germany. While Wind Energy is the majority provider of electricity in Germany, it is closely followed by Biomass & Waste; notice also that Hydroelectric energy (the lowest percentile at 14%) is almost completely on par with Solar, Tide, & Wave. This article seeks to delve into the policies which allow Germany to be so diverse in their renewable energy portfolio.

The Plan: Most large countries today have a plan of increasing the percentage of energy produced by a decent amount in the coming years. For example, The United States of America adopted the “Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, [which] has set a target of 36 billion US gallons of biofuel produced annually by 2022”[3]. Taking the goal a step further, Germany however “continues its Energiewende, or energy transformation, which aims to power the country almost entirely on renewable sources by 2050”[2]. The growth of Germany’s renewable energy production over the last 23 (to 2013) years can be seen below in Figure 2.

Let there be light: From the graph, the immediate standouts are the steady rise of wind and bioenergy, but what is very interesting is the meteoric rise of PV, phtovotaic power, that can be see starting around 2010. “Despite being known for gray skies, the country has installed an astonishing amount of solar photovoltaic (PV) power — setting multiple solar power generation records along the way. At the end of 2012, Germany had installed considerably more solar power capacity per capita than any other country. The rapid growth has slowed, however, with 3.3 GW of PV installed in 2013, compared to 7.6 in 2012. And as countries like the U.S., Japan and China catch up, installations have continued to drop in 2014”[2]. This immediate rise and gradual tapering off of solar energy is due to the FIT, or feed-in tariff policy, “which pays renewable energy producers a set amount for the electricity they produce under long-term contracts”[2]. However, that’s not to say that this policy has been without it’s negative side effects as well. The reason for the gradual tapering off, is because now solar energy has reached grid parity, which basically means that solar energy is now equal in costs to the current (pun intended) electricity rates. Because the industry is largely exempt from the surcharge which finances the feed-in tariff, the cost of all these solar panel installations is falling on the consumers; the people of Germany are the ones who have to foot the bill for all these new installations, since the installations are outpacing the set government targets. “Rather than adjust the industry exemption, the government instead proposed a ‘PV self-consumption charge’ on new photovoltaic systems, something Germany’s Solar Industry Association recently announced it plans to challenge in court”[2]. Due to some of these negative side-effects, “Germany announced last year that it would begin scaling back its feed-in tariff”[2].

Diversify and conquer. Along with the feed-in tariff, Germany has a number of policies in place which help the country to be as diverse as possible in regards to expanding its hand in renewable energies. One that, in my personal opinion has many positives, is the Training of Craftsman Programme. “The profession of installers of RES installations is embedded in the craft training of installation mechanics for sanitation, heating and air conditioning systems. The training is divided into different phases. The first phase is an apprenticeship as laid out in SHKAnlMechAusbV. In order to be admitted to the Master’s examination, the installer has to pass the journeyman’s examination in front of the board of examination from the Chamber of Trades and Crafts…On a regional level, the Chamber of Trades and Crafts offer special examinations. For example, for solar and PV installers for which a fee is charged”[4]. Not only is this program good for renewable energies in Germany, it also has an immediate benefit in the fact that it creates jobs; a task not always easy to do in some countries. In my opinion, it starts at the bottom; with the workers, and the consumers of the energy. If they are not happy, and renewable energy expansion doesn’t produce jobs as well as benefit the environment- the plans will never succeed. However, like all things in life, there has to be a balance. We’ve just seen the Training of Craftsman Programme, and now it’s time to look at the opposite end of the spectrum; the policy-makers, business owners, and public authorities. The Exemplary role of public authorities (Low interest loan) is a policy which seeks to gain the involvement of public authorities through low interest incentives. “The exemplary role is foremost taken in the field of energy efficiency. The KfW bank offers low interest loans for energy efficiency refurbishment of publicly owned buildings to local authorities and community organizations. In addition, the KfW bank also offers low interest loansto local authorities for energetic refurbishment of historical buildings under the programme ‘Energy efficiency in historical buildings’”[4].

Conclusion. Meeting the lofty goals of a Germany’s Energiewende plan is going to be a full group effort, which will require the efforts of all in Germany, from worker to public office. As can be seen from the data presented above, Germany is a world leader and pioneer in the production and use of Renewable Energies. The portfolio of Germany is one of the most diverse in the world, and is able to be so through some of the many policies that Germanic legislature has been able to pass. The future looks bright (and clean) for Germany.

REFERENCES

1. Simran Khosla, ‘This chart shows which countries produce the most electricity from renewable energy’ http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/business/energy/140620/top-10-renewable-electricity-generation-countries-chart

2. Kiley Kroh, ‘Germany Sets New Record, Generating 74 Percent Of Power Needs From Renewable Energy’ http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/13/3436923/germany-energy-records/

3. Wikipedia, ‘Mandatory renewable energy target’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_renewable_energy_target

4. Ingrid Bozsoki ‘Legal Sources on Renewable Energy’ http://www.res-legal.eu/search-by-country/germany/tools-list/c/germany/s/res-e/t/policy/sum/136/lpid/135/