Grid – Energy Transition https://energytransition.org The Global Energiewende Tue, 07 Mar 2023 10:26:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 When Germany Can’t Give it Away: Negative-Price Power Hours https://energytransition.org/2023/03/when-germany-cant-give-it-away-negative-price-power-hours/ https://energytransition.org/2023/03/when-germany-cant-give-it-away-negative-price-power-hours/#respond Thu, 09 Mar 2023 08:00:22 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=27993 In 2022, negative prices occurred during 69 of the total of 8,760 hourly prices in German day-ahead trading. Last year, there were 139 cases of hours when utilities had to pay to give away electricity. This adds to the high price of electricity in Germany, but it doesn’t explain it. Paul Hockenos has the details. Pumped-storage power station, Rönkhausen, Germany. (Photo by Dr.G.Schmitz, CC BY-SA 3.

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2023/03/when-germany-cant-give-it-away-negative-price-power-hours/feed/ 0 Could a Green New Deal clean up Africa’s dirtiest electricity grid? https://energytransition.org/2021/11/could-a-green-new-deal-clean-up-africas-dirtiest-electricity-grid/ https://energytransition.org/2021/11/could-a-green-new-deal-clean-up-africas-dirtiest-electricity-grid/#respond Thu, 04 Nov 2021 10:00:35 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=25125 Civil society organisations in South Africa are proposing a post-WW2-style economic recovery programme to steer energy transformation for the state utility that echoes Roosevelt’s New Deal in the USA. But the country has been thrown into an even deeper energy crisis, following an explosion at one of the country’s newly-minted power stations. Could this make the ‘Green New Eskom’ idea even more...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2021/11/could-a-green-new-deal-clean-up-africas-dirtiest-electricity-grid/feed/ 0 Germany’s about to Lift Its “Solar Ceiling” https://energytransition.org/2020/05/22365/ https://energytransition.org/2020/05/22365/#comments Tue, 26 May 2020 13:00:13 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=22365 In a long-awaited decision in mid-May, the German government announced it will soon lift restrictions on feed-in tariffs (FITs) for solar power, which would have crippled the sector. But why was the limit set at 52 GW in 2011, and what do we think that solar will ever be able to do without policy support? Craig Morris takes us back to the origins of a controversial policy that has been criticized...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2020/05/22365/feed/ 1 Look to Europe to Improve the Green New Deal: Why Laws Matter https://energytransition.org/2019/09/look-to-europe-to-improve-the-green-new-deal-why-laws-matter/ https://energytransition.org/2019/09/look-to-europe-to-improve-the-green-new-deal-why-laws-matter/#comments Mon, 23 Sep 2019 13:00:43 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=20833 The Green New Deal (GND) pact embraced by scores of US Democrats is chock- full of vibrant ideas and urgent policy considerations. It’s right that with the climate crisis accelerating faster than scientists predicted and our window to curb it narrowing, we have to think big – indeed something at least as sweeping in scope as the New Deal recovery program of the 1930s.

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/09/look-to-europe-to-improve-the-green-new-deal-why-laws-matter/feed/ 1 Work in progress: the integrated European electrical grid https://energytransition.org/2019/07/work-in-progress-the-integrated-european-electrical-grid/ https://energytransition.org/2019/07/work-in-progress-the-integrated-european-electrical-grid/#respond Thu, 04 Jul 2019 13:00:21 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=20011 Attention energy wonks, the EU’s revised electricity regulation is going to change the electricity grid as we know it. Not just physically, but in terms of market policy: no forbearance with grid congestion and a clear commitment to cross-border trade. Justus Irmen takes an in-depth look. Member states aim for an interconnectivity level of fifteen percent by 2030 ( Public Domain) The EU’s Energy...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/07/work-in-progress-the-integrated-european-electrical-grid/feed/ 0 Albania should be cashing in big on renewable energy https://energytransition.org/2019/06/wonderland-albania/ https://energytransition.org/2019/06/wonderland-albania/#respond Wed, 26 Jun 2019 13:00:35 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=20019 Why isn’t it? Powerful interests in the energy sector see renewables in terms of hydro, hydro, and more hydro. It’s not what the country – or the region — needs, says Paul Hockenos. Sunshine in abundance: Albania could cover its own energy consumption with solar energy ( Public Domain) Travelling through Albania’s verdant countryside in spring is an unusual delight. Its rough beauty has yet to be...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/06/wonderland-albania/feed/ 0 Stroke of a ministerial pen could shift South Africa to a renewable grid https://energytransition.org/2019/06/stroke-of-a-ministerial-pen-could-shift-sa-to-a-renewable-grid/ https://energytransition.org/2019/06/stroke-of-a-ministerial-pen-could-shift-sa-to-a-renewable-grid/#respond Mon, 03 Jun 2019 13:00:02 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=19895 The debt crisis that is crippling South Africa’s national power utility could open the way for the private sector to drive lower-carbon energy solutions in the form of utility-scale renewable projects and smaller community-level power suppliers. All it needs is for the energy ministry to approve the red tape that’s getting in the way, writes Leonie Joubert. Can South Africa’s electricity supply...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/06/stroke-of-a-ministerial-pen-could-shift-sa-to-a-renewable-grid/feed/ 0 Germany plans to convert coal plants into renewable energy storage sites https://energytransition.org/2019/05/coal-plants-into-renewable-energy-storage-sites/ https://energytransition.org/2019/05/coal-plants-into-renewable-energy-storage-sites/#comments Wed, 15 May 2019 11:30:07 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=19715 With Germany’s coal plants scheduled to close by 2038, operators now face some major decisions about how to restructure energy systems. One idea is to convert polluting power stations into batteries. L. Michael Buchsbaum takes a look. Vattenfall and start up SaltX are about to develop a pilot 10MW salt battery in the Reuter power plant in Berlin (Photo by Alexrk2; CC BY-SA 3.

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/05/coal-plants-into-renewable-energy-storage-sites/feed/ 3 South Africa’s collapsing power utility could mean a faster energy transition https://energytransition.org/2019/04/south-africas-transition-to-cleaner-energy/ https://energytransition.org/2019/04/south-africas-transition-to-cleaner-energy/#respond Thu, 11 Apr 2019 13:00:57 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=19423 Years of poor management and corruption are finally catching up with South Africa’s electricity utility, Eskom, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, and couldn’t keep the lights on across the country this week. But failing coal infrastructure and the massive debt needed to keep it afloat could open the way for a speedy energy transition here, writes Leonie Joubert. South Africa struggles with...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/04/south-africas-transition-to-cleaner-energy/feed/ 0 Blown off course: European onshore wind markets decline https://energytransition.org/2019/03/european-onshore-wind-markets-decline/ https://energytransition.org/2019/03/european-onshore-wind-markets-decline/#comments Wed, 06 Mar 2019 14:00:51 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=19203 As European onshore wind energy growth slows, investors and analysts pin the blame on political infighting and faulty auction systems. L. Michael Buchsbaum reports on recent figures illustrating a particularly sharp drop in Germany. New onshore wind installations in Europe dropped almost a third ( Public Domain) Part two of on-going series: Read part one here Worldwide wind power still growing...

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