Germany: consumers hit by high gas and electricity prices; myth of cheap renewables

 As three nuclear power plants have been shut down on new year's eve consumers face skyrocketing prices for gas and elecricity. Consumers pay the price of the energy change in Germany, writes WELT:

Many consumers eager to shop are impatiently waiting for the bargain day called “Black Friday” in the coming week. According to an old tradition, on the last weekend in November you can buy new electricity guzzlers for the household particularly cheaply. But already this week, a completely different “Black Friday” on the energy market may not leave much of the shopping appetite of many shoppers.

Because energy suppliers who want to change their electricity and gas prices on January 1st must, according to the law, announce this six weeks in advance, that is: on the Friday of the week that ends. The announced price increases are likely to trigger a real energy price shock for many.

Germany: coal beats wind power in 2021

 The energetic balance for 2021 reveals that fossile fuels were able to increase their output compared to renewables, writes WELT:

The climate politicians of the traffic-light-coalition have bad timing. They had only just decided to bring the coal phase out to 2030, when the frowned upon electricity producers are once again demonstrating their importance for the energy supply with all their might.

Lignite power plants produced 18 percent more electricity in 2021 than in the previous year, while hard coal power plants even increased their output by almost 27 percent. This is what it says in the annual balance sheet that the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) has now published.

Germany: EU plans thwart Germany's energy shift

 EU guidelines with very strict precepts on gas power plants could lead Germany to extend the operating time of coal power plants the government wanted to give up by 2030, reports WELT:

The new federal government would like to "ideally" bring the coal phase-out in Germany forward from 2038 to 2030. But the traffic light coalition partners encounter immense problems right at the beginning of their project. In addition to the even declining production of renewable energies, new specifications from Brussels threaten to make it more difficult to achieve the targets.

The starting position for the planned energy transition turbo of the new federal government deteriorated considerably on Wednesday: According to the latest figures from the German Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW), the goal of achieving 80 percent green electricity in Germany by 2030 has become little more unrealistic. Accordingly, the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption has even shrunk from 46 percent to 42 percent this year. The main reason for this was poor wind conditions.

It is therefore ruled out in specialist circles that renewable energies can replace the capacities of coal and nuclear power that will be lost in the near future. Almost every study on the achievement of the German energy transition targets assumes that gas-fired power plants will have to be built to a considerable extent by 2030 in order to be able to temporarily close the electricity gap.