Up until now, wind turbines have been designed to generate electricity at the lowest possible total cost, independent of this electricity's market value. With an increasing penetration of wind power in the system, the market value of electricity generated by wind turbines is declining, since...

The costs of renewable energy technologies have fallen sharply. Now the financing costs of new installations are playing an increasing role in the overall cost of Germany's energy transition. This has put the primary focus of support instruments for renewable energy on creating more affordable...

Due to increasing shares of renewable energies in electricity production, the cost-effective system integration of these installations is becoming more and more important. Technologies and locations are viewed as system-friendly when they are more cost-efficient and easier to integrate because...

Shortly before the parliamentary election in 2013, Germany is riding on a wave of euphoria: hardly any other euro country has weathered the financial and debt crisis so well. Since 2009, GDP has grown by over eight percent and 1.2 million new jobs have been created. Public finances were...

The energy transition will require considerable increases in energy efficiency, particularly in residential buildings. Financial support mechanisms, information and adviceprograms and dedicated training and certification of craftsmen are already in place to stimulate energy efficiency...

The 2014 reform of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare-Energien- Gesetz, or EEG) entailed that a mandatory direct marketing of green electricity be introduced. According to this law, operators of larger wind turbines must sell their electricity production on the electricity market. In...

Climate protection is a global challenge that all countries have a common but differentiated responsibility to address. However, not all governments are willing to commit to targets of equal stringency, and individual countries may put different emphases on carbon pricing in their policy mix....