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Berlin public utilities exceed the solar 10 MW threshold

Published

Eight hectares of modules built on Berlin's roofs, almost half of them on residential buildings

Berlin's municipal utility is clearly picking up the pace in the expansion of solar installations in the capital. The municipal green electricity producer exceeded the 10 megawatt threshold at the end of September.

Since the commissioning of their first solar plant on a GESOBAU house on Rolandstraße in Pankow, the output installed by the municipal utility has thus increased exactly a hundredfold. Behind the 10 megawatts peak (MWp) built, which corresponds to around one tenth of all solar power installed in Berlin from large to single-family homes, are more than 150 individual systems.

Around 4.3 MWp of the 10 MWp were erected for tenant electricity systems with housing associations and cooperatives as well as homeowners' associations. In these projects, tenants or owners can obtain the electricity generated on their own roofs directly and particularly cost-effectively and thus contribute to the energy transition themselves. Around 5.7 MWp have been installed on state-owned properties - schools, sports halls, administrative and cultural buildings, prisons and fire and police stations.

All of the plants constructed by Berliner Stadtwerke have a combined module area of 80,000 m² or 8 hectares, which is equivalent to a good eleven football pitches. The plants completed to date save the atmosphere around 4,900 tonnes of CO2. By the end of the year, Berliner Stadtwerke plans to install a further 2 MWp of connected solar capacity.

Source: PM from 04.10.2019

 


Keywords: Stock, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, Communities, Tenant electricity, News Blog Berlin, PV, Quarters, Settlements, City, Environmental policy, Ecology

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Umweltrat fordert vollständigen Ausstieg aus der Kohleverstromung innerhalb von 20 Jahren
Published

Environmental Council calls for complete phase-out of coal-fired power generation within 20 years

Photo: B. Welter

In its 2.10.2017 published opinion the German Advisory Council on the Environment calls on the incoming German government to initiate the coal phase-out without delay. The upcoming legislative period offers the last chance to set the course for an appropriate implementation of the Paris climate goals in Germany.

"Germany must reduce power generation from coal as quickly as possible and end it in the medium term, otherwise the climate targets in Germany cannot be achieved. The structurally compatible coal phase-out should therefore be initiated immediately. The last power plant must be taken off the grid in 20 years at the latest," explains Prof. Claudia Kemfert.

The basis of the coal phase-out should be a budget of the total amount of greenhouse gases that may still be emitted by coal-fired power plants until their final shutdown. This amount should be fixed by law. "From a scientific point of view, the remaining emissions budget for coal-fired power generation in Germany should be 2,000 megatonnes of CO2 Prof. Wolfgang Lucht specifies.

In its report, the SRU proposes a phase-out in three phases: The most emission-intensive power plants should be taken off the grid by 2020. On this basis, more modern plants could continue to operate at reduced capacity until about 2030 to ensure security of supply and to preserve jobs. In the 2030s, these power plants should then also be decommissioned. The federal government must now define the framework for this.

Climate protection and the shaping of structural change must go hand in hand. A long-term and structured phase-out path offers those affected planning security and can ensure that the burden is shared as fairly as possible. The phase-out path and its structural policy support should therefore be discussed in a commission together with the affected regions, companies, trade unions and environmental protection associations.

 

The German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) has been advising the German government on environmental policy issues for almost 45 years. The Council's composition of seven professors from different disciplines ensures a scientifically independent and comprehensive assessment, both from a scientific and technical perspective as well as from an economic, legal and health science perspective.

 

The Council currently consists of the following members:

Prof. Dr Claudia Hornberg (Chair), Bielefeld University

Prof. Dr Manfred Niekisch (Vice-Chairman), Goethe University and Frankfurt Zoological Garden

Prof. Dr. Christian Calliess, Free University of Berlin

Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert, Hertie School of Governance and German Institute for Economic Research

Prof. Dr Wolfgang Lucht, Humboldt University Berlin and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lamia Messari-Becker, University of Siegen

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Vera Susanne Rotter, Technical University Berlin

 

German Advisory Council on the Environment, Berlin
www.umweltrat.de



Keywords:
Stakeholders, DE-News, Renewable, Climate protection, New books and studies, SDG 2030, Environmental policy, Ecology

Speicherförderung in Baden-Württemberg ausgelaufen
Published

Storage subsidies in Baden-Württemberg expired

Baden-Württemberg's Environment and Energy Minister Franz Untersteller has concluded the state's support programme for PV storage systems and described it as a success.

In March 2018, the green-led ministry had launched the "Grid-serving photovoltaic battery storage" funding programme and provided it with a total of 10 million euros. The programme was part of the state government's solar offensive. Specifically, the state supported the investment in battery storage for a newly constructed photovoltaic system. Since the subsidies were exhausted after only 17 months, despite several increases, the programme was closed this week.

"With our million-euro funding, we have helped it gain new momentum," said Untersteller. "With an increase of 44 megawatts peak photovoltaic capacity and 30 megawatt hours of storage capacity, we have achieved our goal and taken the energy transition in the state a good step forward."

11.7.2019 | Source: Ministry of the Environment Baden-Württemberg



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Stakeholders, DE-News, Energy storage, Renewable, Funding, Climate protection, News Blog Baden-Württemberg, PV, Electricity storage, Environmental policy, Ecology

Published

Scenarios and standards for reporting support companies on the path to climate neutrality

Scientific scenarios for climate neutrality support the strategy and planning of companies on the path to decarbonisation - Using the example of buildings and heating, climate economists at DIW Berlin analyse existing scenarios for climate neutrality - Net Zero scenarios show a clear path for the transformation of companies and the financial sector - With standardised scenarios and transition plans for climate neutrality, banks, funds and insurance companies can make their portfolios fit for the future

Scenario analyses on the climate-neutral transformation of the economy strengthen the strategic entrepreneurial orientation on the path to climate neutrality. In this context, scientific scenarios and standardised reports in particular support companies in bringing their own business model in line with the path to climate neutrality and reporting on it transparently. This forward-looking information also helps the financial sector. Banks, funds and other financial institutions can use standardised scenario analyses and reports on climate neutrality to identify transformation risks in good time. Therefore, they can make their own portfolios resilient and climate neutral and invest in companies on the path to climate neutrality at an early stage, shows a study by climate economists at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). "Scenarios are a scientific starting point for companies to identify transformation levers and thus reduce their emissions as quickly as possible," says Fernanda Ballesteros, researcher in the Climate Policy Department at DIW Berlin.

© DIW Berlin

Net Zero scenarios show clear path for companies with building portfolio

Ballesteros, together with Karsten Neuhoff, Head of DIW Climate Policy, and other researchers, analysed eight studies on possible climate neutrality by institutions as diverse as the Federal Environment Agency, the Federation of German Industries and Agora Energiewende. Using the example of companies with building portfolios, they worked out what the scenarios mean for corporate strategy on the path to climate neutrality.

"If the climate neutrality target is brought forward to 2035, the reporting on a resulting stress test scenario must be comparable to the core scenario." Karsten Neuhoff

"In the scenarios, the annual renovation rate increases from the current level of around one percent to at least 1.5 to two percent or well over two percent by 2045," write the authors of the DIW study. "The share of technologies based on renewable energies already reaches 46 to 55 per cent in 2030 and rises to 94 to 100 per cent by 2045, with heat pumps being the dominant technology with around 50 per cent," results the analysis of the scientific studies. After heat pumps, district heating follows as the central technology in the scenarios with a share of about 20 to 30 per cent. "The Net Zero scenarios show a clear path," says Ballesteros. "A company with a building portfolio can use the scenarios to see what it needs to implement in the building sector to reduce emissions and become climate neutral."

Standards for comparable reporting strengthen the financial industry

It is crucial for the climate-neutral transformation of the economy that companies document the transformation with comparable transition indicators. "With standardised scenarios and uniform reporting, companies can also show and explain deviations from net zero scenarios," says Karsten Neuhoff, Head of the Climate Policy Department at DIW Berlin. "This also supports new techniques and innovative strategies, which is why the German government should also advocate internationally for the standardisation of forward-looking reporting standards and scenario frameworks." In order for the financial sector to also use this information for analyses, comparable reporting on a company's core scenario in the current political environment is required, for example climate neutrality in 2045. However, a company's transition plan should also be resilient to changes in climate policy. Neuhoff: "If the goal of climate neutrality is brought forward to 2035, the reporting on a resulting stress test scenario must be comparable to the core scenario."

Background: EU and G20 negotiate standards for forward-looking climate reporting

In the Climate Protection Act, Germany has committed itself to gradually achieving climate neutrality by 2045. Companies from industry and the service sector must therefore change their production and business practices, and financial institutions must adjust their assessment criteria. In many cases, this requires a new strategic orientation and investments in climate-neutral products, business models and production technologies. For this, companies need capital and support from the financial sector, which plays a central role in achieving climate goals.

In order for investors, civil society organisations and public authorities to understand the investment needs, progress and potential risks of companies on the path to carbon neutrality, companies are expected to provide forward-looking reporting based on scientific evidence and standardised procedures. The science works with scenarios that also provide industrial and service companies as well as banks, funds and insurance companies with comparable information about the transition to a climate-neutral business model and resulting risks. With the help of the scenarios, companies can consider the transition risks and opportunities in their investment decisions. The scenarios enable the financial sector to decarbonise the portfolio step by step and to map company-specific transition risks and opportunities in risk management.

International climate reporting frameworks are already laying the groundwork for a common scenario framework and standards for forward-looking reporting on the path to climate neutrality. For example, the frameworks of the international Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures of the 20 most important industrialised and emerging economies (G20) and the EU, as well as the UK government's Transition Plan Taskforce. Other relevant processes are the negotiations on the planned disclosure requirements of the EU regulatory proposal CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and the global sustainability reporting standards of the ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board).

Links

Source: PM from 21.6.2023 DIW



Keywords:
CO2-neutral, DE-News, Renewable, European Green Deal, Climate emergency, Climate protection, Sustainable management, SDG 2030

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