German energy policy: not a blueprint for other countries

German energy policy is not a blueprint for other countries, according to a recent survey by Weltenergierat. Moreover, it is seen as a risk to European security of supply in the electricity sector.

 

German energy policy has been observed worldwide and has triggered national debates on energy. Therefore Weltenergierat wanted to find out how countries perceived the German energy transition.  In November 2014 it carried out a survey among the Council’s member committees and received responses from 35 countries, results of which were released earlier this month.

The survey, “German energy policy – a blueprint for the world?”, has found:

►More than 70% of respondents consider German energy policy a threat to European security of supply.
►In the short term, current energy policy will impact German growth prospects negatively. In the longer term, many respondents also see a strengthening of the economy.
►A third of respondents are confident that the German energy policy could serve as a global energy policy blueprint. A little over half of respondents think that parts of the concept – i.e. expanding renewables – could be copied, while almost half of respondents reject the proposal of the German energy policy completely.
►Close to 50% of surveyed experts think that household consumers would accept a price increase of up to 10% in their countries, if this means they could contribute to climate protection. However, this does not apply to industrial consumers.
►In international perspectives, German energy policy will only partly be implemented and with delays.
►Only a minority believes that Germany can achieve its CO2 reduction target until 2020.

The survey results were released in the same month when Weltenergierat called for a true EU internal energy market in a position paper for the German energy ministry’s ‘greenbook’. The position paper represents the interim results of a study commissioned by WEC Germany on further steps towards a single European power market. The final analysis on the extent of synergies of a European or cross-country load backup will be published in June.

Dr Carsten Rolle, Secretary of Weltenergierat, said: “EU member states need to cooperate much more closely as there is great potential for synergies in the electricity sector. The integration will have to be carried out step by step on a regional level in the first place, which can then be extended to all member states. It is important to implement the regionalisation already announced in the recent EU strategy paper quickly and rigorously”.