Germany leads the way on wind power
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Germany leads the European Union in the development of wind power. According to Germany's Federation of Wind Energy (BWE), there were 22,664 wind turbines operating in Germany in the first six months of 2012, with a total capacity of 30,016 megawatts.
In addition to land turbines, nine offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of 45 megawatts went online. "By the end of the year," the federation's website says, "further projects with an installed capacity of 2,000 megawatts and a total investment volume of around 7.5 billion euros will have reached the construction phase."
A feed-in tariff for wind-generated electricity has existed in Germany since 1991. The Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) came into force in 2000 and still provides the main stimulus for the German wind market, stipulating a feed-in tariff for each kilowatt produced and priority grid access for renewable power.
The German Federal Building Code categorized wind projects as "privileged projects." Local authorities are required to designate zones for wind projects. They can also restrict construction in specific areas called exclusion zones.
In 2012, the rate for land-based wind is set at about 12 cents Canadian per kilowatt hour for the first five years from the start of operation. Ontario pays 13.5 cents per kWh for wind power.
There are a number of additional factors in the German formula, including an extension formula, that can take the fixed payments to C$0.20. For offshore wind, the rates range from about 19 cents Canadian per kilowatt hour to about 24 cents Canadian per kilowatt hour for remote, deep-water installations. The initial term for offshore wind is 12 years.
The German Federal Building Code categorized wind projects as "privileged projects." Local authorities are required to designate zones for wind projects. They can also restrict construction in specific areas called exclusion zones.
In 2010, the current government overturned a decision by a previous government to phase out nuclear energy in Germany by 2033. They said they would extend nuclear in Germany for an additional 12 years as a bridging tactic to allow green energy to take hold. However, after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, that decision was reversed. All nuclear plants in Germany will be shut down by 2022. Plants currently off-line will not be restarted.
According to a recent report in Bloomberg Businessweek News, wind accounts for 9.2 per cent of Germany's electricity and the aim is to triple that amount by 2020. BF