Germany's Power Grid “On The Brink” Without Nuclear

Published on Saturday May 12 2012 (AEST)  

Germany’s Federal Network Agency Report Shows Power Grid “On The Brink” – Thanks To Renewable Energies 

 By P Gosselin on 11. Mai 2012 

The German Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency) is the authority of the German federal government overseeing electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railway networks. You know there’s a real problem when the agency itself issues a press release warning that the national power grid is in serious trouble and that something needs to be done urgently. 

Steffen Hentrich of the Liberal Institute writes on how Germany’s once impeccably stable world-class power grid has been transformed and is today just one step away from being a developing-world laughing stock. 

This has all been accomplished in just a few short years – thanks to the country’s reckless and uncontrolled rush to renewable energies, wind and sun, all spurred on by a blind environmental movement and hysteria with respect to nuclear power. In a press release íssued a few days ago the German Federal Network Agency reported that the burdens of the unsteady, forced feed-in of renewable energies poses a risk to the power supply in Germany unless the grid is expanded quickly. In Point No. 1 on page 10 in the summary of its Report on the Status of the Grid-Related Energy Supply in Winter 2011/12, they write: 1. 

The situation for the power grid in the Winter of 2011/12 was very precarious.” Moreover, the report writes: “No. 5 Reserve capacity in Germany and Austria was strained on multiple occasions” and that overall (No. 6) “the power plant situation has adversely developed.” and that “regulatory measures are required in order to ban the shutdown of conventional power plants”. The report adds that the grid disruptions occurring last winter can be avoided, but only with great efforts. Earlier the problem had been restricted to North Germany. But since the shutdown of nuclear power plants in the south (5000 MW), the problems of grid instability have spread nationwide. 

There’s an urgent need for reserve capacity. Another huge problem is that the system is now characterised by great unpredictability, especially when it comes to supply by sun and wind. The report also sates that the current gas network is inadequate to balance out fluctuations. Steffen Hentrich writes: This does not only show how the replacement of conventional energy capacity through renewable energy is an illusion, but also how expensive the forced energy transition to renewables will be for citizens. The transformation of the energy supply, as it is now being conducted, cannot be supported by the arguments of environmental protectioi, supply reliability and economics, even when the reports of state officials allow us to see that none of these targets sells by itself.” 

The latest German report reveals a grid that is headed for disarray – and quickly. Welcome to the energy of the future. 

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