energy politics

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On Wednesday, Claude Turmes (MEP Die Grünen/EFA), Rapporteur for the Energy Efficiency Directive of the leading Energy Committee in the EU-Parliament ITRE, presented the draft compromise of ITRE in front of more than 130 delegates from politics and the economy in the ‘Europäisches Haus’ in Berlin. Members of all parliamentary groups in ITRE agreed...
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After difficult negotiations, the German Network Agency (BnetzA) has agreed to a procedure for the authorisation of investment budgets. Since the decision-making practice of the BnetzA has often been challenged in court, the OLG in Dusseldorf has clarified a number of issues on detailed questions about the investment budgets. On grounds of this decision...
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The members of parliament of the Environmental Committee of the German Bundestag have agreed to organise a hearing on the promotion of solar energy for the 21 March. Beforehand, the cabinet had approved to the “Legislative proposal on the amendment of the law framework for electricity from solar radiation”, which had already been presented...
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After weeks of discussion, Rösler Minister and Environment Minister Röttgen have agreed on common positions on both issues, photovoltaic and energy efficiency. At a joint press conference on Thursday the Ministers presented their compromise proposal. On Photovoltaic: The cuts in the funding will be forwarded from 1st July to 1st April and are graduated...
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The report of the Office of Technology Assessment of the Bundestag on “Threat and Vulnerability of Modern Societies – the Example of a large-scale and long-lasting Loss of Power Supply”, will be debated in the plenary (TOP 11a – PM 17/5672).  In view of a possible blackout caused by the nuclear phase-out, the 133-page...
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The transmission grid operator TenneT states that the connection of offshore wind farms would exceed its financial resources. In order to prevent a deadlock with the grid expansion, the company presented demands to the federal government to improve the situation. In addition to a binding long-term offshore planning, which increases the predictability and synchronisation...
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Following the presentation of the report on “Opportunities and challenges of new power plants” in the Committee for Education, Research and Technology, the spokesman of the FDP-parliamentary group Rainer Erdel stressed that a higher proportion of renewable energies was needed in the transport sector. He demanded that research efforts have to be stepped up...
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The energy companies RWE and E.on and the grid operator TenneT have warned the Federal government of a failure in the expansion plans for offshore facilities. The biggest problems with the connection of wind farms are technical difficulties concerning the grid connectivity and a lack of financial incentives. Moreover, energy companies criticise that the...
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The Committee for the Economy and Technology will held a public hearing on 5th March 2012, on the “Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on energy efficiency and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC”. So far there is no unified position on this issue in the government coalition, since the Minister...
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The EU’s draft energy efficiency directive, set to underpin the bloc’s efforts to cut 20% of its energy consumption by the end of the decade, is being debated for the first time at the ministerial level in Brussels on 14.02.2012, with talks focusing on giving the legislation more flexibility. The draft Directive moreover includes...
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The Bundestag debates at its parliamentary session on Thursday motions of the coalition and the SPD on the future of the industrial location of Germany. The motion of the SPD, “Impulses for economic location of Germany – for a modern industrial policy,” calls for a “new social consensus for the much needed modernisation and...
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Prior to the energy E-world energy & water in Essen Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger criticized on Tuesday Germany’s progress in implementing the energy transition. He called for a German position on the EU’s energy efficiency directive, which provides for an increase in energy efficiency of 20 percent by 2020. On this topic, Bündnis 90/die...
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On Monday, Ernst-Ulrich von Weizsäcker, former President of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate , Environment and Energy, commented on the issue at a meeting of the Enquete Commission on “growth, prosperity, quality of life”. He said that to increase the price for energy and raw material continuously parallel to the increase of resource efficiency...
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