Articles by
Karl-friedrich Lenz
The Big Ban of Wind Energy
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
One of the reasons is the failed policy of leaving the working feed-in tariff in favor of an experiment with auctions. Said experiment has failed in a spectacular way. As a part of my job I follow some of the European and German developments of legislation. I think this particular change deserves the title of “WORST LAW EVER”. It has resulted in a complete destruction of any credible path to achieving the German climate goals.
German Climate Bond Proposal
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
But the interesting thing here is that the KfW bonds would offer better conditions for investors than the state issued bonds. All things equal that should lead to more demand for these compared to state bonds. And that is based on the correct assumption that doing something about the climate change is more urgent than all other state expenditure.
Ukraine cuts time for energy producers to obtain feed-in tariffs
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
We know exactly that the fixed feed-in tariff in place until a couple of years ago has worked very well to increase speed of adoption. We also know that the recent policy changes have been an unmitigated disaster. Anyone paying attention should conclude that all we need to do is go back to the policy that actually works.
Toby Couture on Auction Failure
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
I just read “Are auctions to blame for the lagging pace of renewable energy deployment” by Toby Couture. The answer is of course yes, as anybody paying attention knows. But Couture makes a couple of interesting points, some of them new to me.
“Freedom Gas”
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
I am not sure what is special about this particular gas, or what would be non-freedom gas.
EU Court of Justice: German Renewable System Not State Aid
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
Excellent news from the EU Court of Justice. In a judgment published yesterday, the EU Commission power grab asserting the right to decide about German renewable energy legislation has been rejected. The Court found that the present German surcharge system for renewable energy introduced in the 2012 reform does not constitute “state aid”, since the surcharges are at no time part of state resources
Fire Engine Water Supply Auction System
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
Once they reach the fire, they will pump water on that fire to put it out as fast as possible. There will not be an auction set up where water suppliers can enter bids and the cheapest supplier gets to deliver the water.
Wow, a Whopping 1.3 GW of Extra Solar Next Year in Germany
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
That’s almost 2.5% of the 53 GW China added last year. I am so old, I remember when it was the market who decided on how much solar to add. I also remember that Germany added much more solar than those 1.3 GW a year back when it was a lot more expensive. I don’t get why it is a good idea to add much less now that prices are down.
Japan and Germany Failed Transition to Auction Models
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
If you want conclusive proof that a shift to auction models will delay and brake renewable energy development, one could not ask for much more. Meanwhile, China invested $126.6 billion with most of that ($86.5 billion and up 58%) going to solar projects.
Results of First German Auctions for Wind and Solar
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
The move to an auction based system is responsible for the big slowdown in renewable deployment in Germany over the last couple of years. Now it will cause the additional problem of disturbing the balance of the renewable energy mix.
German Renewable Energy Revival
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
It mentions a “special auction” (Sonderausschreibung) of 4 GW onshore wind and 4 GW solar distributed over 2019 and 2020, in addition to offshore wind projects. I think that the transition to an auction model for renewable energy in recent years has been stopping progress, contributing strongly to Germany’s failure to meet the 2020 CO2 target. But there is one nice thing about it.
Covfefe: “Carry on to VICTORY! Fossil energy. FOSSIL ENERGY”
By
Karl-friedrich Lenz
Under this theory, “covfefe” stands for the principle of “FOSSIL ENERGY FIRST”, an important pillar of modern Republican policy. Never mind the bad press. Just make sure those lobbyist funds keep flowing in the right direction.
