German coal use at highest level since 1990

[kristopher]

4. "the companies that own coal plants are the same as those who own nuclear"

"From the left to the right, we see that nuclear power production dropped by 2.5 TWh in 2013, with that amount easily outstripped by the 3.6 TWh increase in renewables (a difference of 1.1 TWh). Power demand also dropped by 10.7 TWh, 0.3 TWh more than the decrease in consumption of natural gas in the power sector."

07.01.201
Energiewende and coal: not the same camp

The news that German coal power production increased again last year has cast the country's energy transition in a bad light, with whom proponents of nuclear in particular hoping to make the switch to renewables synonymous with greater coal power demand. Yet, the companies that own coal plants are the same as those who own nuclear. Proponents of the Energiewende combat both.

“Coal surges sullies Germany’s clean energy image,” ABC news writes. The issue is a 1.5 percentage point increase in the share of coal power in total power supply (which the website incorrectly calls “gross energy”) in 2013.

The news is not surprising (I discussed the trend in July) and can be attributed to mainly to power exports. Nonetheless, the media and proponents of nuclear attribute the rise of coal in 2013 to the nuclear phaseout – even though no nuclear plant has been decommissioned since 2011.

What we have seen in recent years is a rise in power exports. Take a look at the following chart based on the figures published by the AGEB (see my report).


Agora Energiewende

From the left to the right, we see that nuclear power production dropped by 2.5 TWh in 2013, with that amount easily outstripped by the 3.6 TWh increase in renewables (a difference of 1.1 TWh). Power demand also dropped by 10.7 TWh, 0.3 TWh more than the decrease in consumption of natural gas in the power sector. If Germany were an island, demand for coal power would have decreased by 1.1+0.3 = 1.4 TWh. Instead, we have an 8.9 TWh increase, which is only possible because net power exports increased by 9.9 TWh, equivalent to nearly 50 percent greater power imports year-over-year.

Renewables are must-run plants in Germany, meaning that their power has to be purchased even if conventional plants have to ramp down commensurately. Germany’s neighbors who import a lot of power – the main two culprits are the Netherlands and France – are the main driver behind the growth in German coal power production...

http://www.renewablesinternational.net/energiewende-and-coal-not-the-same-camp/150/537/75832/