Renewable energies are also in demand in Germany.
Wind power in particular is setting a record in this country.
However, it is not entirely without problems.
Berlin – In order to curb climate change, Germany must achieve the energy transition.
That's fact.
But where does the country actually stand when it comes specifically to the expansion of wind power?
In principle, a record can be set for eco-energy in Germany.
But there are also issues that last appeared on Sunday, January 15, 2023.
Renewable energies (RE) in Germany: Wind power is setting a new record – and problems at the same time
On this date, Germany was again able to achieve a record in the production of renewable energies (RE).
This was not least due to the strong winds on the coast.
The only problem: they might even have been a bit too strong.
In Baden-Württemberg, the
TransnetBW
app Strom
Thought
sounded the alarm – and even called on consumers to save electricity.
The numbers have subsequently changed again.
In fact, in Germany on January 15, 2023, we had a 95.9% share of renewable energies in the load and 78.3% in the generation.
But it remains a record.https://t.co/Uv03qEYdDI https://t.co/21NfV7ePxs pic.twitter.com/9Dze1xoZVh
— Bruno Burger (@energy_charts_d) January 16, 2023
Bruno Burger was to inform about the record in the generation of renewable energies in Germany.
The professor at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE regularly reports on the latest developments in this area via Twitter.
Renewable energies accounted for 95.9 percent of the load, which is made up of power consumption and grid losses.
On that Sunday, 78.3 percent of the electricity generated in Germany would have come from renewable sources, primarily wind power.
Wind energy with major impact on Germany's power grid - warning for consumers
Yes, that is also part of the record mentioned at the beginning: In this context, there is not only good news to report.
Because so much wind power also has an impact on the entire power grid.
The transmission system operator
TransnetBW
had already commented on this on Twitter:
Strong winds are forecast on the coast on Sunday afternoon.
We are monitoring the effects on the #electricity system very closely and will keep it stable.
But with your support we can do even better.
Help us!
#PowerNetSecurity pic.twitter.com/7EBeVdrEdG
— TransnetBW (@TransnetBW) January 14, 2023
At the same time, the Strom Thought app, which belongs to
TransnetBW
,
issued
a warning to consumers.
This stated that they should either bring the use of energy-intensive devices forward or, if possible, leave them out completely between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
And all this despite the fact that the extremely strong wind was able to generate a particularly large amount of wind power.
Why?
Wind power in Germany: imbalance in the German power grid with strong winds in the north
The background is the stabilization of the power grid.
A specific example to illustrate this: if a particularly large amount of electricity is generated on particularly stormy days on the North Sea coast, which is well equipped with wind turbines, but less in the south, this can lead to imbalances in the grid.
+
In the field of renewable energies (RE), wind power in Germany is causing a record – and problems.
© Christian Charisius/dpa
In this case,
TransnetBW
has to shut down wind turbines, start up additional power plants in southern Germany or buy electricity from abroad at short notice.
As the
Südkurier
reported,
TransnetBW
ordered such interventions to stabilize the network more than 60 times in the first week of December 2022 alone.
“The imbalance does not come from the wind turbines, but from the grids.
We protect them today with redispatch and in the long term with network expansion,"
TransnetBW
said on Twitter.
Germany must rely on renewable energies - also for the climate goal
A current example that shows: When it comes to renewable energies in Germany and if you look specifically at wind power, then it seems that there is still a lot going on.
It is currently more important than ever to find alternatives to gas from Russia.
In response to the sanctions against the country, President Vladimir Putin largely halted gas supplies to Western Europe.
As a result, gas and electricity prices have been catapulted to unprecedented heights.
Consumers feel this painfully.
By far the most important pillar for the energy transition is wind power.
Germany wants to become climate-neutral by 2045 at the latest.
But even the 2030 climate target is beginning to falter.
The fact is: according to current calculations by the industry association Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft (BDEW), wind turbines would have covered around a sixth of all local electricity generation in 2022.
That's not enough.
By 2030, an average of six wind turbines each with an output of around four megawatts (MW) will have to be built every day.
Wind power is to be given greater importance in Germany - the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) defines performance
According to the political will in the form of the federal government, the installed capacity is to be more than tripled by 2045.
An ambitious goal, especially since Germany will only have installed wind turbines with a total output of around two gigawatts (GW) in 2022.
At times, the government's plans even communicated three gigawatts, i.e. 3000 megawatts, as a target.
In fact, the current version of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) speaks of a total installed capacity of 69 gigawatts in 2024.
That would correspond to a total increase of around 13 gigawatts for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024.
But what does this mean for the coming years?
According to calculations by the
Agora Energiewende
think tank , 5.4 gigawatts would have to be produced in each of 2023 and 2024, an additional 7.5 gigawatts each in 2025 to 2028, and even eight gigawatts per year in 2029 and 2030.
List of rubrics: © Christian Charisius/dpa
