Electrical gridGrids complicate Germany’s nuke exit
Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a daunting challenge as her cabinet must implement a plan that replaces 23 percent of the nation’s energy output as nuclear power plants are phased out; to successfully end its nuclear energy program with minimal disruptions, Germany must first build a $14.4 billion expansion of its electrical grid; electrical cables are needed to bring energy generated from offshore wind farms in the north to its manufacturing centers in the south; in addition, high-volume lines stretching to France must be built to allow for energy imports to cover any shortfalls; but Germans have long been opposed the building of new overhead power lines; the country must construct as much as 2,235 miles of cables by 2020
To successfully end its nuclear energy program with minimal disruptions, Germany must first build a $14.4 billion expansion of its electrical grid.
Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a daunting challenge as her cabinet must implement a plan that replaces 23 percent of the nation’s energy output as nuclear power plants are phased out. Merkel has announced that Germany will receive 35 percent of its energy output from alternative energy by 2020. In 2010, renewable energy supplied 17 percent of Germany’s power.
Electrical cables are needed to bring energy generated from offshore wind farms in the north to its manufacturing centers in the south. In addition, high-volume lines stretching to France must be built to allow for energy imports to cover any shortfalls.
Christoph Weber, a professor of energy economics at Germany’s University of Duisburg Essen, explained, “The grids are the Achilles heel and greatest challenge of the energy policy.”
“The government will have to overcome significant problems on the ground to get the lines built,” Weber added.
Germans have long been opposed the building of new overhead power lines, but these hurdles must be overcome if the country is to construct as much as 2,235 miles of cables by 2020 to create an electrical grid that links renewable energy projects to consumers.
In the past, local residents have fought infrastructure projects fearing that they would negatively impact home prices and quality of life.
EON AG, the country’s largest utility, is currently facing legal challenges as it attempts to complete construction on a coal-fired power plant in Datteln, while Elia System Operator SA, a Belgian energy company, is struggling to convince local leaders to approve a plan to build power lines through a forest in the German state of Thuringia.
“The grid cannot become the bottleneck of the energy shift,” said Stephan Kohler, the president of Dena, the German Energy Agency. “Wind and solar power won’t do any good if we can’t transmit it to where it will be used or stored.”
In particular, utilities must “strengthen the power grid, boosting north-south capacity and allowing for a growing percentage of intermittent renewable energy being fed in,” said James Stettler, an analyst with SpA analyst.
The German government also plans to use gas-fired power plants as a backup in its transition to renewable energies as it can quickly increase or decrease output in response to demand. But even with additional gas-fired plants, Germany may have to import as much as 10 percent of its annual power use from other countries.
To help expedite the construction process, the Economic Ministry plans to use fast-track powers to take federal control over approval of power grids rather than leaving the decision in the hands of state and local councils.
Germany is the largest economic power in the world to phase out nuclear power in response to the Japanese nuclear disaster. The country’s actions will likely serve as a model for other industrialized nations seeking to transition to clean energy.
