Renewable Energy Policy in Germany:
A Green Jobs Success Story
Dr. Christine Wörlen
July 2010
Overview
• German industrial transformation
• The renewables law: energy generation made easy
• Benefits: CO2 emission reduction, income, jobs
Industrial transformation in
Germany
Unemployment in Germany since 1950.
Source: BA 2010
Growth trends for renewable energy jobs compared to
other industries.
Indexed to 100 in 1998
Automotive: 745.000; +5%
Food: 927.000; +1%
Agriculture and Forestry:
856.000; -11%
Nuclear Energy: 30.000; -21%
Construction: 2.197.999; -2%
Lignite mining: 17.000;-35%
Hard coal mining: 30.000; -58%
Source: AEE 2010
Renewable Energies in
Germany
Renewables as share of total final energy consumption in
Germany in 2009.
Source: BMU 2010
Renewable heat in Germany, 1997 - 2009.
Source: BMU 2010
Renewable electricity in Germany, 1990 - 2009.
Source: BMU 2010
The Renewable Electricity Law
(„FIT“) in Germany and its effect
Installed capacity and energy supply from photovoltaic
installations in Germany 1990 - 2009
6,500
10,000
Electricity supply [GWh]
6,000
9,000
installed capacity [MWp]
5,500
8,000
4,500
7,000
4,000
6,000
3,500
5,000
3,000
2,500
4,000
2,000
3,000
1,500
2,000
8
42
6,200
6
32
313
4,420
3
26
162
3,075
2
16
76
2,220
1
0
11
64
1,282
500
556
1,000
1,000
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Source: BMU-KI III 1 according to Working Group on Renewable Energies-Statistics (AGEE-Stat); Image: BMU / Bernd Müller; all figures provisional
Source: BMU 2010
[MWp]
[GWh]
5,000
Number of wind energy plants and installed capacity in
Germany 1990 - 2009
22,000
20,288
Installations, cumulative No. of plants
20,000
30,000
19,461
18,685
installed capacity cumulative [MW]
25,000
17,556
16,543
18,000
15,387
16,000
20,000
13,752
14,000
11,438
12,000
15,000
9,359
10,000
7,861
8,000
10,000
6,185
6,000
5,178
4,326
3,528
4,000
5,000
2,467
2,000
405
700
1,084
1,675
0
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Source: B. Neddermann: Wind Energy Use in Germany - Status; 31.12.2009; Deutsches Windenergie-Institut (DEWI); Image: BMU / Brigitte Hiss; all figures provisional
Source: BMU 2010
[MW]
[No. of plants]
21,164
German Renewable Energy Sources Act („Feed-inTariff“)
•
•
•
•
•
•
…guarantees that the grid connection is established,
…guarantees that the power is purchased,
…guarantees that this happens at a cost-recovering price
…and over a sufficiently long time frame.
…incentivizes early action,
…is open for everybody, and facilitates the development of
new business models.
Renewable energy purchase prices
•
•
•
•
•
•
…are fixed through the law
…are granted for 20 years
…vary by technology
…vary by plant (resource quality, plant size, feedstock)
…get lower over the years (degression)
…negotiated such that at current investment prices some
(marginal) profit is attained.
Advantages of Feed-in Tariffs: Simple, stable, fair,
effective.
• All of these factors reduce the total cost of deploying
renewables
– through lower risk and
– lower transaction costs, and maximize deployment activity
• Industry has a long-term perspective for large investment and
capacity decisions.
• System is open for everybody. Extremely low barriers for
becoming „energy systems owner“.
Advantages of Feed-in Tariffs: Simple, stable, fair,
effective (II).
• Germany has overachieved her renewable energy targets.
– In 2000, the target for 2010 was 12.5%.
– This target was actually reached in 2007 with 14.7%.
• Costs for systems in Germany are lower than in other
jurisdictions.
Costs and Benefits
FIT costs in relation to power price.
Monthly electricity bill
(3500 kWh per year)
80
70
60
Euros per month
50
40
30
20
10
0
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2009
VAT
5,61
6,48
7,24
7,81
10,06
10,81
Electricity Tax
3,73
5,22
5,97
5,97
5,97
5,97
Concession fees
5,22
5,22
5,22
5,22
5,22
5,22
KWK-G
0,38
0,73
0,91
0,9
0,55
0,67
EEG
0,58
1,02
1,58
2,2
3,25
3,5
Generation, Transport, Retail
25,15
28,32
31,56
34,53
37,95
41,53
Source: BMU 2010, eigene Darstellung
CO2 avoidance through renewable energy, 2009.
Source: BMU 2010
Turnover from renewable energy installations in
Germany, 2009.
Source: BMU 2010
Income from operating renewable energy installations
in Germany, 2009.
19%
19%
Wind energy
Hydropower
9%
Biomass electricity
Biogenic Solid Fuels
20%
Biofuels
Photovoltaics
10%
23%
Total: €15,703 million
Source: BMU 2010, eigene Darstellung
Total income from renewable energy
in Germany, 2007.
Source: BMU 2008
Jobs in the renewable energy sector in Germany
2004, 2008 und 2009
87,100
Wind energy
85,100
63,900
109,000
Biomass
95,800
56,800
79,600
Solar energy
74,400
25,100
9,000
Hydropower
Increase: approx. 87 %
9,300
9,500
9,300
Geothermal energy
9,100
1,800
160,500
employments
6,500
Public / non-profit sector jobs
4,300
2004
278,000
employments
300,500
employments
2008
2009
3,400
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
100,000
110,000
Figures for 2008 and 2009 are provisional estimate;
Source: BMU-KI III Projekt "Gross employment from renewable energy in Germany in the year 2009, a first estimate"; Image: BMU / Christoph Busse / transit
Source: BMU 2010
Share of providers of wind energy installations in newly
installed capacity in Germany up to end of 2009
New installed capacity (total): 1,917 MW
Multibrid
1.6 %
Enercon
60.4 %
Vestas
19.5 %
Others
1.9 %
REpower Systems
8.8 %
GE Energy
1.2 %
Fuhrländer
4.9 %
Nordex
1.9 %
Deviations in the totals are due to rounding;
Source: B. Neddermann: Wind Energy Use in Germany; Version: 31.12.2009;
Deutsches Windenergie-Institut (DEWI); all figures provisional
Source: BMU 2010
The solar industry
in Germany.
BSW Präsentation Marktentwicklung
Employees by Qualification Groups in
Germany
8%
5%
Master/Technician
41%
27%
Unskilled workers
Office workers
19%
Academic
Skilled workers
Own translated diagram based on: Wissenschaftsladen Bonn et al. 2009, p.4
26
….solar PV….
Global wind energy capacity 2009
New total installation: 37,446 MW
China
34.7 %
Rest of world
10.6 %
India
3.4 %
Germany
5.1 %
Spain
6.6 %
USA
26.5 %
Italy
3.0 %
France
2.9 %
UK
2.9 %
Portugal
1.8 %
Canada
2.5 %
Source: Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC): press release; March 2010; all figures provisional
Source: BMU 2010
Renewable energy jobs require more labor than other
industries.
Total Job-Years/GWh per Energy Technology in the U.S.
Energy Efficiency
Natural Gas
Coal
Nuclear
Carbon Capure and Storage
Wind
Solar Thermal
Solar PV
Small Hydro
Landfill Gas
Geothermal
Biomass
0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
Total Job-Years / GWh (Average)
Source: Wei, Patadia and Kammen 2010
Sweetwater, TX
•Nolan County, Texas had 20% of
the population living in poverty in
2004.
•Now 1,100 of the 15,000 residents
have jobs directly related to wind
energy.
•Sweetwater area is steadily
growing again for the first time in
decades.
•Nolan County‘s property tax base
has expanded from $500 m in 1999
to $2.4 bn in 2008.
Source: windpowerworks.org 2009
Conclusion
• Energy efficiency and renewable energies will be among the
main vehicles to achieve Germany‘s climate protection
objectives.
• But that brings along new opportunities for growth. The
policies implemented are having multiple benefits:
–
–
–
–
increased energy security
decreased GHG emissions,
Creation of an industry of global significance,
Jobs and national income.
• Among the social and economic benefits of these policies is
increased resilience against the current global downturn.
Thank you for your attention.
Christine Wörlen, Ph.D.
Münzstrasse 19 | 10178 Berlin | Germany
mail woerlen@arepo-consult.com