Germany saves EUR 150 billion with its energy transition
According to Siemens calculations, Germany could save more than EUR 150 billion by 2030 and limit further increases in the price of electricity by revising the energy transition concept without any negative impacts on its climate targets.
At the Siemens Energiewende-Dialog taking place in Berlin on June 3rd to 11th 2013, the company presented a Three-Point Plan with concrete proposals for the cost-efficient implementation of the energy transition.
Mr Peter Löscher President and CEO of Siemens AG said that "Siemens stands behind the energy transition. However, the project is currently at a critical stage. We need decisions that will maintain our country's competitiveness over the long term. Our aim is to achieve a sustainable energy system with secure supplies and affordable electricity."
The 3 Point Plan is based on an analysis of the status quo relating to the energy transition. High electricity rates are burdening private households and industry alike and threatening Germany's competitiveness.
For private households, electricity rates were nearly 40% higher than the European Union average in 2012; for industrial facilities, 20%. Levies for renewable energies will reach a new high of roughly EUR 16 billion this year. These costs are primarily borne by consumers.
The 3 Point Plan
Siemens has developed a 3 Point Plan for a more cost-efficient energy transition. The pillars of the plan are a restructuring of the electricity market, increasing energy efficiency, and a European coordination of the energy transition.
1. Restructure the electricity market
5 measures for restructuring the electricity market are geared to enhancing investment security and transparency in the energy market.
The first two measures entail a fundamental revision of the Renewable Energy Sources Act. Renewable energies should prevail on the market in the future without levies. The regulations for plants that are already in operation, however, would remain unchanged to guarantee investment security and legal certainty.
Currently, renewables have had feed-in priority over conventionally generated power from combined cycle and coal-fired power plants. As a first measure, this feed-in priority should be replaced by a feed-in responsibility.
In the future, providers of renewable energies would have to market their electricity just as reliably as other suppliers. To guarantee their supply commitments, they must secure their capacity with flexible power plants or with storage. This would create an energy market in which only the amount of electricity actually in demand is fed into the grid.
2. Increase energy efficiency
A successful and economical energy transition also involves energy saving. Rising electricity costs can be partly offset by systems that use less energy. Siemens strongly advocates speedy implementation of the European Energy Efficiency Directive in Germany, because there is huge potential in energy efficiency. Buildings with energy-efficient technology could, for example, generate savings of up to 40%, while efficient electric drives in industry could reduce consumption by up to 70%.
However, increasing energy efficiency often requires up-front investments. With intelligent financing models, modernization can be undertaken with no preliminary investment costs for the customer. Instead, these costs are paid entirely from the energy savings.
Along with energy efficiency measures, Siemens recommends the selective regulation of consumption. This means, for example, that consumers voluntarily disconnect themselves from the grid for short times during peak load periods and are rewarded with special compensation.
3. European coordination of the energy transition
The energy transition should be understood as a project that must be coordinated on a European level and driven by close cooperation among the individual countries. Separate regional and national solutions increase the costs for all countries moving to sustainable energy systems.
A study carried out by Siemens and the business consulting firm of McKinsey also shows that we can learn a great deal from one another when shaping the energy system. It presents 20 international solutions along the entire energy value chain, from power generation and distribution to improving the energy efficiency of buildings, industry and transportation. The U.S., for example, leads the way in the selective regulation of power consumption through the temporarily reduction of demand. And in the process of modernizing their energy systems, Denmark and the Netherlands are already successfully auctioning wind farms.
Meanwhile, Siemens AG is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the fields of industry, energy and healthcare as well as providing infrastructure solutions, primarily for cities and metropolitan areas.
Source - Strategic Research Institute