German energy policy. Energiewende
One of the largest energy consumers in the world is undoubtedly Germany and its energy policy is in line with the current trend of the European Union.Moreover, this country is well-known in the energy field for the government program Energiewende . How does the Energy Law and Policy triangle works in Germany?The purpose of this article is to present the situation of Germany in all of the three aspects of the triangle.
A major feature of the German energy system is a high degree of import dependency that is well above the EU average. Germany imports more than three quarters of the coal and gas it uses and almost all of its oil (“Germany relies on petroleum, natural gas and uranium imports, but could obtain its full supply from coal.The import quota for oil, gas and coal in 2012 amounted to 98,3 /85,7 and 80,8 respectively.Renewables-hydropower,wind power, biomass and solar energy-count for almost 100% of domestic energy sources.Currently around two-thirds of primary energy consumption is still covered by import” Lutz Mez(2016),Energiewende in Germany:The down of a new energy era ,in Raphael J. Heffron and Gavin F.M. Little(2016),Delivering Energy Law and Policy in the EU and the US ,p129-130). Moreover, Germany obtains all of its uranium from foreign sources. Lignite is the only domestic energy source in which Germany is self sufficient. As Germany relies more and more on internal, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, the country’s overall import dependency will slightly decrease. In external energy policy, Germany’s dependence on energy imports is rather framed by mutual interdependence than a problem or risk to national security. For Germany, it has always been a political objective to create and manage mutual interdependencies with suppliers, and Germany has never sought to achieve autarchy. A major energy supplier for oil and gas to Germany is Russia, which accounts for more than one third of its supplies. Further important oil suppliers include Great Britain and Norway, and substantial gas imports come from Norway and the Netherlands.
Germany is a critical Member State of the EU, and this is particularly true for energy policy, in both internal market development and external energy relations. Germany is by far the largest energy user within the EU, accounting for almost 19% of the gross energy consumption, 20% of net imports, and almost 19% of electricity generation (EU Statistical Pocket Book 2010, Section 2.6.1 and 2.6.6, www.ec.europa.eu [accessed 05.11.2016]). Additionally, Germany plays a crucial role by virtue of its geographical location, placing it in the centre of electricity grids and making it a hub for natural gas (J. S. Duffield, K. Westphal, Germany and EU Energy Policy: Conflicted Champion of Integration?, in: V. Birchflied, J.S. Duffield, Towards a Common European Union Energy Policy: Problem, Progress and Prospects, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2011, pp. 169).
The political decision for a speedier energy transition induces systemic change into a sector that already faces a high level of “unprecedented uncertainty” at the international level. Whereas the state of energy security in the past and present has been perceived as very satisfying and of a high quality, system stability in the electricity sector is becoming a major concern, with fluctuating renewable energy sources gaining more and more shares of generation. But within the interconnected and highly meshed grid of continental Europe, security of supply cannot be properly addressed on a national level anymore.
As a consequence, the Energiewende may push Germany towards more integration with its neighbors. “Energy security” in the past had been mainly attached to Russian gas deliveries. In more general terms, challenges on the global oil markets and supply security are a somewhat forgotten subject, as are to a lesser degree gas supply issues. As a consequence, there is still no real energy strategy in the German energy concept for the transport and mobility sector.
In the strategic Triangle of Energy Policy, environmental damage, especially climate change, has been a primary concern. However, cost efficiency is gaining more attention in the debate. For a highly industrialized country such as Germany, with its energy-intensive industries, there is a risk of a loss of competitiveness in global markets. There are rising fears about competitive disadvantages for the German economy if decarbonization is pursued unilaterally. But the German strategy is also perceived as a new industrial revolution, and if it succeeds it would allow Germany to win a competitive edge.
German Energy Policy.The Energiewende and the sustainable policy
A widely-known point of departure on Energiewende ,based on 2011 Energy Concept ,was the reactor disaster in Fukushima but the first steps on this ambitious program took place in September 1973 in the former Federal Republic of Germany, around the first oil price crisis (“The first oil crisis was caused by the Yom Kippur war between Israel and Syria,and the Federation of Arab States, accompanied by the oil embargo of OPEC.By throttling oil production, oil prices climbed from $3 per barrel to over $5 per barrel, and in 1974 even further, to over $12 per barrel.The second oil crisis began in the wake of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.The loss of oil production in Iran caused the price of oil to soar to over $38 per barrel.” Lutz Mez(2016) ).The Chernobyl disaster also represented a serious reason for changing views on nuclear power and after this the Green Party asked for urgently eliminated of all nuclear energy suppliers.
The therm of Energiewende was used for the first time on 16.02.1980 during a symposium in Berlin called Energiewende-Atomausstieg und Klimashutz (Energy Transition:Nuclear Phase-Out and Climate Protection ).
Before this event ,Florentin Krause,Hartmut Bossel and Karl-Friedrich Reissmann in their study titled Energiewende growth and prosperity without oil and uranium analyzed a scenario for the Federal Republic without oil imports and nuclear power plants (Lutz Mez(2016),Energiewende in Germany:The down of a new energy era ,in Raphael J. Heffron and Gavin F.M. Little(2016),Delivering Energy Law and Policy in the EU and the US ,p131).
The implementation of this project has been intensely debated and only after the political change of the government in 1998 there has been a fundamental change in the field of energy, known as the “nuclear consensus “.After nearly two years of negotiations with the operators of nuclear power plants , the operating licenses became temporary and the construction of other plants should be banned. Subsequently, the Atomic Energy Act was amended accordingly in 2002 and for the first time one of the most industrialized country made a crucial decision in respect with this sensitive issue: phasing out the use of nuclear power by 2023.
Probably one of the most eloquent example of the functioning of the Energy Law and Policy Triangle regarding to the close link between Energy Law and Policy took place in this case in 2009 ,when political leadership was changed again and the new government extended licenses for nuclear power plants and the nuclear law was revised and entered into force on 1.01.2011.In March 2011 was Fukushima reactor disaster and after that, the federal Cabinet decided to close eight nuclear reactors and set the schedule for closing the remaining nine between 2015 and 2022.
The Energiewende represents in nowadays a great change in German Energy Policy and its principal goal is eliminating of the use of nuclear power plants by 2022 .At the same time, renewable energy is expanded to become the main part of future energy supply.Moreover, the widespread using of renewable energy will lead to the elimination of the monopoly held by the big giants in the energy field and gives small entrepreneurs the opportunity to enter on the energy market, leading to energy democratization.
In the traditional energy industry, a few large companies with large centralized power stations dominate the market as an oligopoly and consequently amass a worrisome level of both economic and political power. Renewable energies, in contrast, can, as a rule, be established in a decentralized manner. Public wind farms and solar parks can involve many citizens directly in energy production.Photovoltaic systems can even be set up by individuals. Municipal utilities can also benefit citizens financially, while the conventional energy industry profits a relatively small number of shareholders. Also significant, the decentralized structure of renewable energies enables creation of value locally and minimizes capital outflows from a region. Renewable energy sources therefore play an increasingly important role in municipal energy policy, and local governments often promote them.
Recently environmental effects and climate change have been the main reason in order to changing Germany’s energy policies toward a more sustainable energy system. The Energiewende, based on the 2011 Energy Concept, aims to phase-out nuclear energy by 2022. The share of renewable energy in the final energy consumption mix should increase to 18% by 2020 and then to 60% by 2050, and in electricity generation even to 80%. Final energy consumption should decrease by 20% by 2020, and by 50% by 2050 (compared to 2008). Moreover, the insulation rate for buildings is supposed to double. In the transport sector, the final energy use should decrease by 10% by 2020 and by 40% by 2050. Additionally, there is a program to promote six million e-vehicles by 2030 (For comprehensive information on the 2011 Energy Concept, see www.bmu.de /english/transformation_of_ the_energy_system/resolutions_and_measures/doc/48054.[accessed 05.11.2017]). Today, the German political elite and the energy industry are consumed with the energy transition. Besides Germany, only Denmark and the UK have adopted energy policy strategies to achieve low-carbon energy systems by 2050.
However, this policy must be seen only in close connection with the term of “sustainable development”.”Sustainable development seeks to reconcile development and environmental concerns through policy-making that integrates environmental protection, social justice and international equity” (S.C.Hacket(2011)Environmental and Natural Resources Economics:Theory,Policy and the Sustainable Society, 4th ed, Sharpe,Inc,New York p.295-298)
It is noteworthy that from the energy and climate policy point of view it could be claimed that it is important to analyze the “boundaries of the sustainability system” which are characterized by the following features: a)the finite nature of energy resources; b)the resource’s sustainability; c)expected demand; d)the effects of climate change (Gerardo Zarazua de Rubens (2016),What is a sustainable policy?A case for the energiewende in Raphael J. Heffron and Gavin F.M. Little(2016),Delivering Energy Law and Policy in the EU and the US ,p 137).
In consequence, sustainable policy-making shall encompass the elements of environmental protection in combination with attaining incremental improvement in social justice and cumulative systemic prosperity.
The Energiewende ,as “the German climate policy experiment” has become a success policy story, both in terms of economy and ecology, by progressing significantly in terms of energy democratization ,the reduction of CO2 emissions and achieving partial so far and total by 2022 nuclear phase out.Despite these success politics, the assessments on sustainability can be made only by analyzing the effects over time.In this regard, the main focus should be on the price of energy, the loss of the nuclear market and the regional implications due to grid offsets by intermittent RES power (Gerardo Zarazua de Rubens (2016),p137).
Nonetheless,as Borden & Stonington argued (Eric Borden and Joel Stonington (2014),Germany’s Energiewende in Global Sustainable Communities HandbookDOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-397914-8.00015-1 ,p 385), the question must continue to be not whether the Energiewende should be implemented, but rather how should the goals of sustainable transition be accomplished?
Flavius Preoteasa LLM International Energy Law and Policy
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