Wind becomes second largest energy source in Germany: report

BERLIN, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Wind energy has surpassed nuclear and hard coal for the first time to become the second largest source of power in Germany, the online news portal "manager-magazin.de" reported on Tuesday.

"Manager-magazin.de" was informed of the historic development by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE).

The lead of wind energy over other power sources by December was "so great that it cannot be overtaken again" in 2017, ISE Professor Bruno Burger said. Wind turbines on land and at sea recorded an output of 97 terawatt hours until Dec. 18, followed by hard coal with 81 terawatt hours and nuclear power with 69 terawatt hours.

Wind was second only to brown coal in the German energy mix which kept its first place with energy generation of 130 terawatt hours.

The steep rise in wind output is a mixed blessing for the German policymakers as the country seeks transition to more sustainable forms of energy generation under Chancellor Angela Merkel's "Energy revolution" reforms.

ISE researchers pointed out that CO2 emissions were likely to fall significantly given the 16 percent reduction in hard coal power output. Wind turbines also more than compensated for loss of capacity caused by Germany's gradual exit from nuclear power.

However, the researchers warned that both European and German energy networks are increasingly struggling to cope with infrastructural pressures from growing wind energy output.

Whenever Northern Germany is battered by heavy winds and a resulting surge in power generation occurs, energy wholesale prices fall. Operators of conventional power plants in Germany and abroad react by temporarily halting their operations as they would be unable to run their higher-cost businesses profitably during these phases.

In turn, overburdened grids then struggle to distribute surges of wind energy accordingly, forcing network operators to pay conventional power plants a surcharge for re-starting their suspended power generation. The cost of these surcharges totalled 800 million euros in 2016 and one billion euros in 2015.

A spokesperson for the network operator Tennet said that data for 2017 was not available yet, but noted that new power lines were being constructed to enable a cheaper and more efficient flow of electricity from producers in North- to customers in South Germany.

According to ISE, renewable energy sources were able to increase their combined share of public electricity production at a record pace to 38 percent in 2017 from 33 percent in 2016. Wind energy accounted for 18 percent of the total, followed by biomass (9 percent), solar energy (seven percent) and hydro power (four percent).

Experts expect that the construction of wind turbines will lose much of its current momentum in years to come as operators respond to regulatory changes.

The Federal Government in Berlin has recently altered the system of subsidies awarded to producers of wind energy. Whereas a fixed remuneration accrued for every constructed wind turbine in the past, companies must now participate in a tender to secure public funds.

Furthermore, many old wind turbines will soon see their subsidies expire and are likely to be taken off the grid entirely as a consequence. In what may be the first sign of a corresponding reversal of fortunes for the industry, major producers of wind turbines such as Siemens are already suffering from decreasing new orders. Enditem