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Search our website for in-depth analysis (Dossiers), background info (Factsheets) or the latest News, interviewees (Experts) or 鶹 Events. Please use AND/OR to find more terms in one document, NOT to exclude terms, quotation marks “…” to find precise terms or use the filters below. Under “Show today’s news” you will find the very latest on the energy transition.

News
  • 23 Nov 2021 |

    Opening of "black box" grid fees could save German power and gas customers billions of euros

    23 Nov 2021, 13:16 Expert Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA) Bundesnetzagentur Electricity market Grid Cost & Prices Expert LichtBlick Green power provider Electricity market Renewables ...
  • 15 Apr 2019 |

    Germany needs comprehensive reform of power grid fees – think tank

    15 Apr 2019, 12:01 Expert Agora Energiewende Think tank on German, European and international climate and energy policy Climate & CO2 Electricity market Energiewende International Julian Wettengel Grid Agora Energiewende With the new offshore grid fee ...
  • 26 Apr 2018 |

    Government agrees to standardise grid fees across Germany

    The German government has agreed to abolish large regional differences in transmission grid fees by standardising them across the country in five equal steps. The implementation will begin at the start of next year, and completion is planned by early 2023 ...
  • 25 Jan 2017 |

    “Companies complain to Merkel about grid costs”

    Eighty-six companies and business associations from Germany’s North, East, and South have complained to Chancellor Angela Merkel about “unfair” grid fees, reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. They argue in a letter that grid fees must be the same all ...
  • French nuclear plants make German power more expensive

    Western German grid operator Amprion’s decision to raise power grid fees by about 45 percent in 2018 is in large part due to French supply issues this past winter, reports Andreas Macho in WirtschaftsWoche. Amprion was forced to frequently employ grid ...
  • 17 Mar 2017 |

    “Federal state parliament votes for nationwide grid fee parity”

    Saxony’s federal state parliament has voted for aligning grid fees across Germany, news agency dpa reports in an article carried by Welt Online. The parliament called on Saxony’s state government to work towards repealing “existing regional imbalances on ...
  • 01 Mar 2017 |

    Thuringia’s state government opposes grid expansion

    The government of central German federal state Thuringia strictly opposes the construction of major high-voltage transmission lines on its territory, Thüringer Allgemeine reports. The government led by the Left Party (Linke) argues the grid operators’ ...
  • 05 Oct 2017 |

    Power grid fees increase in the West, decrease in the East

    Power transmission grid operators Amprion, TenneT and Transnet-BW are planning to increase grid fees by between 9 and 45 percent, Andreas Mihm writes for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Grid expansion and measures to stabilise the grid – such as re ...
  • 26 Jan 2017 |

    Government cabinet agrees to new grid fee law proposal

    There will be no nationwide grid fee alignment in Germany according to a proposal by the economy ministry approved by the government cabinet, contrary to  earlier press reports. However, the proposal for a grid fee reform will gradually abolish payments ...
  • 15 Sep 2017 |

    “More companies want exemption from grid fees”

    The number of companies in Germany that do not pay grid fees is set to rise further, Spiegel Online reports. According to an answer by the federal government to a parliamentary inquiry by the Green Party, there were about 3,670 fee exemptions in 2016 and ...
  • 02 Feb 2017 |

    “Fairness regarding grid fees”

    The government of the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein wants a fairer distribution of grid fees in Germany and will introduce a draft law in the council of federal state governments (Bundesrat). “The draft is to enable the federal government to bring ...
  • 27 Oct 2017 |

    Compensation payments for wind turbine operators double in 2016

    Consumer grid fees rose by nine percent last year, and are unlikely to decrease much next year, according to a market report drafted by the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), which is due to be published soon and was leaked to the Frankfurter Allgemeine ...
  • “Coalition embroiled in row over power grid costs“

    The national alignment of expansion costs for Germany’s power transmission grid- a core energy policy demand of eastern German states- could fall prey to dispute between the ruling social democratic (SPD) and conservative (CDU/CSU) parliamentary groups, ...
  • 19 May 2017 |

    “SPD pushes conservative Union for nationwide alignment of grid fees”

    The Social Democratic Union (SPD) wants a nationwide alignment of grid fees, SPD’s energy politician and member of the Bundestag Hubertus Heil told news agency Dow Jones. The grand coalition’s (CDU/CSU, SPD) federal cabinet had introduced a draft for a ...
  • 07 Apr 2017 |

    East German state premier criticises power price differences

    Welt Online / dpa East German state premier criticises power price differences Once again, an eastern German state premier has criticised regional discrepancies in the power price, dpa news agency reports in an article carried by Welt Online. Brandenburg ...
  • 24 Jan 2017 |

    “Wind turbine protestors demand immediate halt to development”

    Protestors have called on the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state premier to call an immediate halt to the construction of wind turbines in the state, Welt reports. They argue that the construction of wind farms unfairly burdens state citizens and ...
  • 18 Dec 2017 |

    Germany to retain uniform power price zone

    The German power market will not be split into two separate price zones, Germany’s council of federal state governments, the Bundesrat, has said in a press release. The council greenlighted a legal ordinance by the acting federal government that prevents ...
  • 14 Aug 2017 |

    “The revenue cushion”

    Distribution grids used to have a reputation as a boring low-profit business but have become a key source of revenue for German utility innogy, Helmut Bünder writes in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Just like its competitor E.ON, the subsidiary of RWE ...
  • 21 Jun 2017 |

    Merkel wants parliament to agree on grid fees before summer break

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the parliament (German Bundestag) to find an agreement on national power grid fee alignment before the summer break, said economy minister Brigitte Zypries at the German energy industry conference BDEW Congress in ...
  • 28 Feb 2017 |

    “Precaution for the blackout”

    Germany hosts about 120 generating units capable of a “black start”, meaning they will be available for repowering the grid from scratch in the event of a, so far unprecedented, major blackout, Anna Ringle writes in Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten. ...
  • Power consumers pay higher grid fees than required by law – think tank

    A combination of lack of transparency and denial of legal protection means that German power grid fees cannot be sufficiently checked by consumers, consumer organisations, or even politicians, according to a legal analysis published by the Regulatory ...
  • 29 May 2018 |

    European Commission says German grid fee exemptions for large users in 2012-2013 against state aid rules

    Germany needs to recover millions of euros in illegal aid from certain large electricity users exempted from grid charges in Germany in 2012-2013 after the European Commission declared past regulation was against EU State aid rules. “Fully exempting ...
  • 07 Jun 2023 |

    Electricity grid regulator aims to spur investments with higher interest rates

    07 Jun 2023, 11:48 Julian Wettengel Grid Cost & Prices 鶹 Germany’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has decided to improve investment conditions for new electricity grid infrastructure by raising the equity interest rates for new ...
  • 12 Sep 2024 |

    German state governments clash over route of new north-south power transmission line

    12 Sep 2024, 13:56 Benjamin Wehrmann Grid 鶹 / MDR The government of central German state Thuringia has criticised neighbouring state Bavaria and the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) for opaque planning of one of the country’s important ...
  • 13 Dec 2018 |

    Court ruling forces federal grid agency to reduce grid fee transparency

    13 Dec 2018, 14:28 Sören Amelang 鶹 鶹 Grid Cost & Prices 鶹 Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has forced the country’s grid agency (BNetzA) to further reduce transparency on grid fees. Following a ruling by the court, ...
  • 02 Jan 2018 |

    TenneT spends record sum to stabilise power grid in 2017

    The need for, and costs of, power grid stabilising measures grew to a record high in 2017 for transmission grid operator TenneT, news agency dpa reports in an article carried by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. According to preliminary data, TenneT said it ...
  • 28 Jun 2017 |

    Government agrees on regional alignment of power grid fees

    The German government has reached a compromise on aligning contested regional differences in power grid fees paid by consumers, according to the Social Democratic Party (SPD). “According to the draft law, grid fees will be aligned in four yearly steps ...
  • 27 Jun 2017 |

    Companies in western German industrial heartland want grid fee reform postponed

    Companies in Germany’s industrial powerhouse North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) have called for the postponement of the grid fee reform, which the government plans to pass this week, the regional newspaper Rheinische Post reports. Some local branches of the ...
  • 02 Feb 2018 |

    German government spent 5.4 billion euros from federal budget on Energiewende in 2017

    In 2017, at least 5.4 billion euros were spent by the German government from the federal budget on the country’s energy transition, up about 20 percent from the previous year, writes the German Taxpayers Federation in a study. Four billion euros were ...
  • 25 May 2020 |

    Consumer association calls for more transparency on grid fees

    25 May 2020, 12:40 Expert Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA) Bundesnetzagentur Electricity market Grid Cost & Prices Expert VZBV- Federation of German Consumer Organisations Verbraucherzentrale ...
  • 22 Jun 2017 |

    “Lex North Rhine-Westphalia”

    Germany’s failure to resolve national alignment of power grid fees is down to politicians  stalling in order to appease voters in the country’s most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Michael Bauchmüller writes in Süddeutsche Zeitung. Former ...
  • 07 Jun 2017 |

    Grid fee alignment: “We will try to find a solution” – Merkel

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that federal and state governments were “trying to find a solution” in the dispute about nationwide grid fee alignment. “At the moment, a difficult battle is raging on how we best succeed in managing this surcharge ...
  • US ambassador flags American natural gas as “helpful” to German energy transition

    Europe and Germany should “share in America’s abundance” and cooperate with the US in energy policy by buying natural gas from America, the US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, writes together with US deputy secretary of energy Dan Brouillette in a ...
  • 01 Dec 2023 |

    German grid agency proposes fee reduction for regions with high renewables share

    01 Dec 2023, 13:31 Carolina Kyllmann Grid 鶹 Germany's grid agency has proposed to reduce electricity grid fees in areas with a high share of renewables, in a bid to distribute the costs of rolling out wind and solar energy more fairly ...
  • 23 Mar 2018 |

    Court ruling in favour of Germany’s grid operators dashes hopes for lower power prices

    Under a ruling by a regional court in Germany in favour of the country’s grid operators, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) cannot  cut the guaranteed rate of return  on power and natural gas grids, meaning that customers’ hopes for lower power prices ...
  • 26 Jun 2020 |

    German lignite exit contract lacks transparency on compensation – think tank

    26 Jun 2020, 12:12 Expert FÖS- Green Budget Germany Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft Energiewende Cost & Prices Julian Wettengel Coal Tagesspiegel Background Experts have criticised the lack of transparency in the contract between lignite ...
  • 17 Sep 2021 |

    New EV chargers in Germany must be equipped with debit/credit card readers

    17 Sep 2021, 12:45 Expert BDEW-German Association of 鶹 and Water Industries Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft Electricity market Business & Jobs Cost & Prices Utilities Expert VZBV- Federation of German Consumer Organisations ...
  • 15 Oct 2020 |

    Lack of e-car charging price transparency continues to irk German consumer groups

    15 Oct 2020, 13:56 Expert VZBV- Federation of German Consumer Organisations Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband Cost & Prices Benjamin Wehrmann Cars Cost & Prices 鶹 Prices at electric car charging points in Germany are not ...
  • 23 Mar 2021 |

    Germany needs power grid fee reform to ease fast-charging infrastructure build-up

    23 Mar 2021, 13:06 Expert Agora Energiewende Think tank on German, European and international climate and energy policy Climate & CO2 Electricity market Energiewende International Expert Agora Verkehrswende Think tank on energy transition in the ...
  • 06 Nov 2020 |

    Smaller energy companies vow resistance against E.ON-RWE deal at EU level

    06 Nov 2020, 14:14 Benjamin Wehrmann Utilities EU 鶹 An alliance of smaller energy companies in Germany is organising opposition to the asset-swap deal of industry heavyweights RWE and E.ON, arguing it would turn "competitors into ...
  • 17 May 2021 |

    NGOs obtain govt calculations for coal exit compensations, say sums are too high

    17 May 2021, 13:29 Expert BMWi- Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and 鶹 (until 2021) Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie Renewable 鶹 Act | EEG 2014 Business & Jobs Cost & Prices Policy Expert Ember Climate & energy think ...
  • 10 Jul 2019 |

    German court paves way for billions in savings on grid fees for consumers

    10 Jul 2019, 12:56 Expert BDEW-German Association of 鶹 and Water Industries Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft Electricity market Business & Jobs Cost & Prices Utilities Expert DUH- Environmental Action Germany Deutsche ...
  • 08 Jan 2025 |

    Sustainable finance rules set to fully enter real economy in 2025 – finance industry initiative

    08 Jan 2025, 12:06 The application of sustainable finance principles across the EU will take a major step forward in 2025 as reporting duties for environmental data are expanded to cover a much wider range of companies, says Matthias Hübner, head of the ...
  • 25 Nov 2020 |

    European Commission greenlights German hard coal exit tenders until 2026

    25 Nov 2020, 15:04 Germany's phase-out plan for hard coal plants can largely be carried out as planned by inviting operators to submit compensation claims in tender procedures, the European Commission has decided. The German government welcomed the ...
  • 08 Jun 2016

    Renewables reform / Merkel: Energiewende must not destroy utilities

    08 Jun 2016, 00:00 Sören Amelang Kerstine Appunn Julian Wettengel 鶹 鶹 Federal government Renewables law reform gets government approval Angela Merkel’s cabinet has decided on the reform of the Renewable 鶹 Act (EEG) that is to take ...
  • 28 Sep 2020 |

    Germany takes first small step towards finding nuclear waste resting place

    28 Sep 2020, 13:18 Germany has made the first step in finding a final resting place for its nuclear waste in what will be an intricate, drawn-out process over the coming decade. An initial report by the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal ...
  • 12 Dec 2018 |

    COP24 blog- Germany's environment minister rejects hypocrisy criticism

    12 Dec 2018, 17:52 Germany is under scrutiny at the UN climate summit COP24 in Poland: the country will fail its 2020 climate target and only the next year will show if a push to phase-out coal-fired power production will result in an end date for the CO2 ...
  • 14 Jun 2019 |

    Start-up Sunfire’s e-fuels can decarbonise industries most addicted to fossil fuels

    14 Jun 2019, 09:07 鶹 is stepping up its business coverage and exploring how the commercial landscape is being transformed by Germany's energy transition. To showcase the upheaval underway in the world’s fourth largest economy, we' ...
  • 26 Jan 2017 |

    Power grid fees- Unfair and opaque?

    26 Jan 2017, 00:00 Germany’s shift to a renewable energy future requires massive investments into the country’s power network. The costs are borne by consumers, who pay a grid fee included in their power bills. A rapid rise of these network usage charges ...
  • Q&A: How the EU aims to reign in false green claims on products

    08 May 2023, 11:00 The European Commission has proposed a set of detailed rules for companies to back up their green claims on products, ranging from “carbon-neutral” sunscreen to “biodegradable” plastic packaging. The proposal for a directive on green ...
  • What business thinks of the energy transition

    20 Sep 2017, 00:00 Companies have broadly mixed attitudes towards the Energiewende, depending on their sector, the size of their business, or location. Polls and analyses help explain their views. [UPDATE- Adds DIHK Energiewende Barometer 2017] Business ...
  • 06 Feb 2019 |

    The main stories of Germany's Energiewende

    06 Feb 2019, 11:00 The energy transition is turning many parts of German society upside down. In this factsheet we highlight the main storylines of the generational project Energiewende as a starting point for further research. Energiewende Julian ...
  • 28 Jul 2023 |

    IPCEI: Germany and France bet on joint EU platform for sustainable industry

    28 Jul 2023, 12:45 The EU’s ‘Important Projects of Common European Interest’ (IPCEI) scheme is one of the bloc’s key instruments for transforming its economy in the name of climate neutrality. The EU’s two largest economies, Germany and France, are among ...
  • Resources and recycling needs for Germany's wind turbines

    08 Feb 2021, 14:56 Wind energy is becoming Germany's most important power source and is a key component of countries' energy transition plans around the world. But in order to ensure a reliable supply of input materials for their construction ...
  • 鶹 Network Blog
  • Three questions to Nickolaus Bauer, 鶹 Ambassador for South Africa

    04 Oct 2019, 12:30 Nickolaus Bauer Martha Otwinowski Renewables Business International Nickolaus Bauer is a freelance journalist and broadcaster who hunts down stories on the competing interests and economic challenges that prevent South Africa and the ...
  • 25 Sep 2020 |
    EU

    Disentangle the EU energy transition: 鶹 goes Europe

    25 Sep 2020, 16:18 Sven Egenter Julian Wettengel EU The EU has set out to drive the energy transition. The European "Green Deal" stands at the centre of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's policy plans, while other major ...
  • 19 Nov 2020 |

    Explanatory: The interplay between European and national energy and climate policies

    19 Nov 2020 Berlin Europe’s energy and climate policies have never been set only at national government level. On a continent where small states share multiple borders, the energy systems are becoming increasingly interlinked, and thus national actions ...
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