Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Germany, as the country that imports the most natural gas from Russia in the EU, has been severely hit. High natural gas prices and energy costs have forced Germany to increase the "priority" of renewable energy development.
Recently, the German cabinet passed a package of energy bills, announcing that it will accelerate the development of renewable energy power, especially significantly increasing local wind power development goals. The German government said the move was to boost the independence of its energy supply while promoting the achievement of climate goals.
Prioritize the development of renewable energy
The latest energy package launched by the German government shows that by 2030, 80% of Germany's electricity supply will come from renewable energy generation. The goal of “renewable energy generation accounting for 65%” is another step forward. At the same time, the German government proposed that by 2030, Germany plans to increase its offshore wind power installed capacity to more than 30 million kilowatts, and by 2045, it will further increase to the level of 70 million kilowatts. In addition, Germany will add at least 10 million kilowatts of installed onshore wind power every year, and by 2030, the cumulative installed capacity of German onshore wind power is expected to reach 115 million kilowatts.
German Deputy Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said: "On the one hand, the growing climate crisis and, on the other hand, the current tensions highlight the need to phase out fossil fuels and increase the scale of renewable energy."
The German government has acknowledged for the first time that the use of renewable energy is in the "public safety interest". Industry analysts generally believe that with the increase in the "priority" of developing renewable energy, the approval process for new renewable energy projects will be shortened.
It is reported that the German government will finalize the specific details of the bill within this year, and will put forward requirements for German building energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector.
After the bill was introduced, the German energy industry welcomed it. Kerstin Andreae, managing director of the German Energy Industry Association, said the measures proposed in the bill are exactly what the industry "urgently needs" and will help Germany produce more renewable energy. Andreas Kuhlmann, chairman of the German Energy Agency, pointed out that this series of reforms will provide new impetus for Germany to achieve energy and climate goals.
Relaxation of environmental restrictions sparks controversy
According to the European media Euractiv, in order to clear the obstacles faced by the large-scale expansion of onshore wind power, the German government also made it clear that "the priority of renewable energy expansion will be higher than the laws and regulations related to nature protection", which is the first time in the past 10 years that Germany has put other Matters override environmental regulations.
Robert Habeck said: "Wind turbine manufacturers, energy companies and German states have all waited a long time for the German government to agree on the expansion of wind power. The expansion of wind power installations can not only alleviate the climate crisis, but also reduce dependence on imported energy. A good strategy."
It is understood that the German wind power industry has achieved large-scale development at the beginning of this century. However, since then, the German government has successively issued strict nature protection laws, and social environmental protection organizations have repeatedly sued wind power projects in court on the grounds of destroying the ecology. The approval of wind power projects in Germany is slow. In the past decade or so, the construction speed of German wind farms has been far slower than expected.
After the relaxation of environmental protection restrictions in Germany this time, the German wind power industry has clearly expressed its welcome, but environmental protection organizations have criticized it. Sascha Müller-Kraenner, chief executive of environmental group Environmental Action Germany, said the government's reforms contained "serious technical errors" in implementing the rules. The staff of another environmental protection organization NABU also said that the reform measures currently introduced by the German government will weaken the environmental protection achievements in many areas.
It is worth noting that, in addition to renewable energy, the voice of the development of domestic oil and gas in Germany has also followed. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said publicly that the German government will "consider lifting the ban on oil and gas drilling in the North Sea" and allow oil and gas producers to enter the region to develop new oil and gas resources.
It is understood that at present, the consensus reached by the German government is not to provide development licenses for any new oil and gas projects, but in the view of Christian Lindner, the international energy market is changing rapidly, and oil and gas development has become an economical choice.
Energy supply challenges
Although the newly released energy bills and policy changes have stimulated the German energy market, the industry generally believes that it is difficult for Germany to get rid of its dependence on imported energy and achieve energy independence.
Since last year, electricity prices in EU member states have remained high, and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis has aggravated the energy crisis across Europe. Filip Thon, CEO of E.ON, Germany's largest energy company, said in an interview with German news agency RND that compared with the same period last year, the wholesale price of natural gas in Germany has risen by more than 20 times this spring, and the price of electricity has also increased by 8 times. If the EU cuts off Russian gas imports, German gas and electricity prices will rise further.
In discussions within the EU, Germany has consistently opposed a complete ban on Russian energy imports.
It is worth noting that Robert Habeck has specifically mentioned that the German wind power industry is particularly facing challenges, including supply chain disruptions, rising raw material prices, increased component costs, and shortages of skilled labor. However, the German environmental protection organization has never given up on "complaining" wind power developers, and the issue of environmental protection will still be a major difficulty for German wind power developers.
In addition, there are certain differences within the German government regarding the energy bill introduced this time. Euractiv analysis pointed out that if the German government wants to achieve the above energy development goals, at least five existing laws and regulations need to be revised, including the "Renewable Energy Law" and the "Offshore Wind Energy Law".
