UPM-Biofore-Magazine-2-2014-EN

TEXT VESA PUOSKARI

PHOTOGRAPHY UPM

German energy production at a turning point

The impacts of the German energy transition, the so-called Energiewende, have surprised energy companies and markets.

Germany is phasing out nuclear power by 2022 and the aim is to make up for the energy deficit using renew- able energy sources. The impacts of the new energy policy have been surprising. Carbon dioxide emissions are growing, it is difficult to anticipate fluctuations in the price of electricity and traditional energy companies are making losses. The greatest challenge is adapting the energy system to the rapid changes that take place in weather- dependent energy production. How will power supply be secured when the sun does not shine or there is no wind? This uncertainty is the reason why energy production cannot rely on renewable energy sources alone: traditional power plants are needed to secure the availability of basic energy. Germany originally planned to balance the

natural fluctuations of wind and solar power production using gas but in practice coal is currently being used to produce reserve power. Several new coal-fuelled power plants are currently being built in Germany while the oldest plants are being phased out. Oliver Klitzke , the Chief Operating Officer of GE Energy Germany, assessed the situation at the POWER-GEN event held in Cologne in June: “As a result of the renaissance of coal-fuelled plants, Germany’s emis- sions have increased by almost 9% between 2009 and 2013 so the original plan for increasing the production of clean energy has backfired.” In 2013, Germany’s use of coal power increased by 44% compared to the previous year and coal accounted for 45.5% of the country’s total power generation. The figure has not been this high in 20 years.

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