Articles by
Craig Morris
Germany: Operating reserve shrinks during Energiewende
By
Craig Morris
Fluctuating wind and solar power are expected to increase the need for dispatchable generators to ramp up and down quickly. So why has the operating reserve shrunk in Germany?
Second German PV auctions over
By
Craig Morris
The winners have not been announced yet, but we do know that there will once again be far more losers than winners. The government nonetheless speaks of a “success.”
Germany: New charts for 2015 – and evidence that the cost debate is over
By
Craig Morris
The chart below shows the breakdown of the renewable energy surcharge. In particular, it highlights that expenditures for renewable energy (the feed-in tariff, green section) were not the main cost driver in the surcharge. Rather, the increase was the result of policy design (all of the bluish areas).
Further Setbacks for French and Swiss nuclear
By
Craig Morris
The flaws at the EPR reactor still under construction in Flamanville were apparently known way back in 2006. Now, the Swiss are finding similar fissures as those detected in Belgium – because they are only now investigating using the Belgian methods.
New German coal plant worth one euro
By
Craig Morris
The new hard coal plant going up in Hamm, Germany, is apparently worthless and may never go into operation.
Renewables briefly covered 78 percent of German electricity
By
Craig Morris
This situation once again disproves the common notion that Germany can “rely” on French nuclear when it needs power. In reality, trading takes place based on price, not dire need to prevent blackouts. The Germans import nuclear power when demand – and hence the spot market price – is low.
France’s new energy transition law
By
Craig Morris
France is not ramping up renewables fast enough, so it will not reach that target anyway. Furthermore, it will not reach its target for the reduction in nuclear power, which is completely unrealistic – the country would have to shut down a third of its reactors over the next 10 years.
New York Times almost gets it right
By
Craig Morris
Hans-Josef Fell, co-author of the 2000 Renewable Energy Act, is not working to restrict wind farms in his home state of Bavaria. Otherwise, the article does not contain too many factual inaccuracies.
What the switch from FITs to auctions means
By
Craig Morris
If we are going to talk about the technical need for utilities as aggregators, we should admit that the people who brought about this transition over the past 25 years will be demoted as market players in the process.
France’s EDF finds wind & solar reducing baseload
By
Craig Morris
In a brief study, the French operator of the country’s nuclear plants unsurprisingly finds that backup generation capacity for fluctuating wind and solar will need to be as flexible as possible. The study also finds that the backup conventional fleet will be smaller.
Coal power down, renewables up in Germany
By
Craig Morris
Overall, electricity from lignite dropped by 3.6 percent, mainly because so much wind power was produced during the winter that it actually cut into this baseload electricity. In contrast, power from hard coal dropped by only one percent; it already ramps the hardest. Electricity from natural gas was down by 1.5 percent; it is already offset the most. Nuclear power was actually up by 2.8 percent.
Is Germany reliant on foreign nuclear power?
By
Craig Morris
In a nutshell, France relies on Germany to cover its peak demand, not vice versa. There is, however, a risk of Germany decommissioning so much coal and nuclear capacity over the next seven years as to endanger the security of supply, but there is also enough time for the country to prevent this outcome. Right now, Germany imports nuclear power from France when the French need to dump excess nuclear generation at low prices – not in order to prevent blackouts in Germany.
