Germany: Regions’ Renewable Energy Competition Could Cause Overcapacity

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold a meeting with state premiers next week to discuss regional competition in producing electricity from renewable sources that could cause overcapacity in the future.

The point of the meeting is to achieve better collaboration in coordinating the transition process  from nuclear and coal power to renewable energy, says the Bloomberg.

Namely, the northern Germany plans to produce three times more electricity from offshore wind farms by 2020 than its population can consume, while the south strives for a higher degree of energy self-sufficiency. If that happens, the overcapacity would hit the population’s pockets, since federal regulations require paying for unused power generation.

The director of industry association BDEW, Hildegard Müller, explains that generating great amount of energy is not the challenge, the real challenge lies in its correct distribution.

[mappress]

Offshore WIND staff, June 7, 2012; Image: Alpha Ventus