August 2002 - Nr. 8
Germany Is
"Wind Power World Leader"
TWIG - Nowhere else in the world is as much electricity produced by wind-driven generators as in Germany. In 2001, wind power accounted for 2.3% of the national electricity supply; in the northern German coastal states, percentages were in the double digits. As a result of rapid technological advances, wind-driven generators are getting bigger and generating greater power yields. Economics Minister Werner Mueller called Germany "the world leader in wind power" and expects this progress to continue and to be reflected in decreasing costs for wind power.
Late last week, Mueller outlined energy policy plans for the next few years in a cabinet-approved report written under the auspices of the Renewable Energies Act (REA). "In our energy policy, we have placed major importance on the expanded use of renewable energies. The objective is to double the percentage of renewable energy consumed in Germany by 2010. We have made good progress in this direction," Mueller noted. The REA has played an important role in the expansion of renewable energies. Last year, 17.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity produced with regenerative energy resources were fed into the national grid under the REA. The largest share was accounted for by wind-generated power, amounting to around 11 billion kilowatt hours.
The REA has also provided important impetus for electricity generation using solar and biomass technologies, Mueller said. He expects continued market growth in this area. Mueller announced that government funding would be structured with a view to providing impetus for further technical and cost optimization of power generation from renewable energy sources. The aim must be to make renewable energies competitive over the medium and long term, he said. In the case of wind power, this goal is close to being reached. As such it will soon be possible to reduce the amount of government funding provided in this area, Mueller asserted.
Mueller also highlighted other successes of Germany’s energy policy. Among them is the establishment of genuine competition in the electricity and gas markets, a situation from which both businesses and private households have profited. A shored-up anthracite mining industry, a restructured lignite mining industry in eastern Germany, the phase-out of nuclear energy, a combined power and heating act and energy savings regulations are other important results of this policy.
Sustainability is the mantra of the ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens. If returned to power in elections this fall, the objectives of supply security, environmental acceptability and cost effectiveness will remain long-term energy policy objectives of the federal government in the next legislative term, according to Mueller. "The government will continue on its successful path of modernization and I promise you we will do this with a great deal of energy," the economics minister quipped.
