Renewable energy
Renewable sources of energy are making a considerable contribution towards achieving climate protection goals. Germany is a pioneer in the field of energy supply from renewable energy sources. Thanks to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), in particular, it has been possible to boost the share of electricity generated from renewables in 2010 to around 16%. With a view to the market for heating, the Renewable Energies Heat Act (EEWärmeG) formulates the goal of increasing the share of renewable energy in the heating market to 14% by the year 2020.
Due to technical development, it has been wind and solar energy especially where economies of scale have significantly reduced electricity generation costs. The increase in fossil fuel and carbon prices is also leading to a situation where the price for electricity on the wholesale market is more frequently higher than the statutory EEG remuneration for onshore wind power plants.
The direct marketing of electricity produced in line with the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and the exemption of energy suppliers from the EEG levy when the EEG share in their portfolio is higher than 50% are creating new incentives for the further expansion of renewable energy. The integration of renewable energy sources into the market is primarily relevant for energy trading and sales, not least due to the lack of acceptance among the population for higher electricity costs.
Due to its contribution to climate protection, the small plant size and low investments as well as its decentralised nature, generating electricity and heat from renewable energy sources is particularly interesting for smaller companies and Stadtwerke as a serious alternative to the use of fossil fuels in large, central power plants. This is why renewable energy sources should always form an integral part of any structured electricity procurement and generation portfolio.
At the same time, using renewable energy sources poses enormous challenges for companies in the energy sector: stochastic feeding resulting in higher demand for balancing and control energy, as well as calculation and cost risks in energy distribution due to deviations in forecasts and poor transparency.
