Katherina Reiche (CDU), Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, believes that the expansion of renewable energies in Germany is too rapid. She already made this clear in her inaugural speech on May 7, when she said that renewable energies could not supply an industrial nation like Germany with energy reliably and at affordable prices.
At the Industry Day of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) on June 24, Reiche went further and described the expansion of renewable energies in Germany as »completely excessive.« Energy costs are too high because so much focus has been placed on the expansion of renewable energies, Reiche said at the BDI event. »You won’t hear me say something as silly and simplistic as ‘the sun doesn’t send a bill’. You can only come up with something like that if you don’t understand anything about energy.«
The expansion of renewable energies has led to massive grid expansion. »And that is reflected in grid fees that are geared toward a completely unrealistic and completely exaggerated renewable energy target,« said Reiche. In the future, the expansion of renewable energies should be based on grid expansion »and not the other way around.« When it comes to grid costs, Reiche wants to make the beneficiaries of the »renewable system” pay their way, for example through construction cost subsidies. »That will bring the business case down again. But it doesn’t help; I can’t just profit at the expense of industry and consumers. That will have to change,« said Reiche, referring to the renewable energy sector.
Instead, Reiche is focusing on new gas-fired power plants with a capacity of up to 20 gigawatts, as already stated in the coalition agreement. As she explained at the BDI Day, this has consequences. On the one hand, »It won’t work without CCS (carbon capture and storage, editor’s note). If we are on the gas path, then CCS is needed to advance the issue of climate neutrality.« On the other hand, she said, »it will be difficult to compensate for the fact that gas will remain more expensive in the future because we are relying on LNG (Liquid Natural Gas, editor’s note).« This will also be »part of the deal with America.«
© PHOTON
