Development of renewable energies: Germany lagging behind

Development of renewable energies: Germany lagging behind

Ulrich Graf, AGRICULTURAL HEUTE*

© 2ragon – Stock.adobe.com

The development of renewable energies must be accelerated. Ironically, the Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection headed by a Vert has so far only shown the new German pace of energy development through three terminals for liquid gas – that is, a fossil fuel.

My grade : No, you’re not dreaming… But the hard law of diminishing returns applies: the more we have built, the more difficult it becomes to build. It’s like for France, but in the other direction, for the reduction of GHG emissions…

The article is not at the top when it comes to units of power and energy. I did not seek to improve and correct.

Renewable and clean energy projects injected nearly 66 gigawatts into the global power grid in 2022. Germany is not among the leading nations in development.

The pace of global development of renewable energies must accelerate dramatically to achieve net zero by 2050. This is the conclusion of theEnergy Industries Council (EIC), the world’s leading energy trade association.

Offshore development

© EIC

All research is useless. In 2021 and 2022, Germany has no significant construction of offshore wind installations.

Solar, wind, biomass, water: everything counts

The first global OPEX report of theEIC, published last week, shows that in 2022, 335 renewable and clean energy projects were commissioned. Among them were 128 onshore wind power projects, 6 offshore wind power projects, 159 solar power projects, 10 waste-to-energy projects, 17 biomass projects and 15 hydropower projects.

Solar power, at 25.7 gigawatts, made the largest contribution to the global power grid compared to other forms of clean energy. The report, which covers a wide range of energy projects around the world (excluding China and Russia), shows that solar energy is closely followed by offshore and onshore wind projects, which produce 3 .7GW and 22GW.

Germany does not appear in the top ranking

France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States were the first countries in terms of clean energy projects commissioned this year.

Fossil fuels continue to dominate the energy mix and constitute the largest individual contribution to the global energy sector, with 65 power plant projects commissioned in 2022, for a total capacity of 46.6 GW. However, the sector saw a sharp decline in new capacity compared to 2018, when well over 80 GW of electricity was injected into the global grid.

Solar boom in agriculture: PV modules in fields

The energy mix makes the difference

« The world needs a balanced and diverse energy mix that addresses challenges such as energy security and affordability, while prioritizing sustainability explains Mr. Neil Golding, Head of Market Intelligence at theEIC. Although there is a promising pipeline of clean energy projects, as data from theEICthe global supply chain may not have the capacity or skills to deliver these projects and achieve climate goals.

Supply chains are not enough for expansion

A look at the floating offshore wind sector shows what ambitious goals mean in practice. The data of theEIC show that 140 megawatts of power is expected by 2035. However, to achieve these goals, significant changes will be needed in the supply chain, including the establishment of sufficient capacities for the manufacture of turbines and export cables, as well as streamlining project management to speed up deliveries. Other sectors would of course have to make similar changes for their industries.

_____________

* Source : Expansion of renewable energies: Germany is lagging behind | agrarheute.com

A comment on AGRICULTURAL TODAY :

Above all, the green Ministry of Economy has set the right milestones for the planning of renewable energy installations. The actual construction then naturally takes place with a certain delay, once the planning has been completed. It cannot therefore be concluded at this stage that the Ministry of Green Economy is neglecting renewable energies. However, a positive trend is already emerging in the development of renewables: if the increase in installed power was 6.9 GW in 2019, 7.3 GW in 2020 and 7.5 GW in 2021, it was already 9, 9 GW in 2022. This is of course still too little, but it is going in the right direction.

And my note: the Flamanville EPR under construction has an electrical power of 1,600 megawatts (1.6 gigawatts). Of course, it’s called spinning in any weather, not just daytime or windy weather.