( Clean Energy Wire ) – Renewable energy supplied a record of 69.2 percent of Germany’s public net electricity generation in July 2023, according to data by research institute Fraunhofer ISE.

Due to favourable weather conditions, wind power alone contributed about 29 percent.

At about 23 percent, the solar power share was lower compared to May and June, also due to the weather.

Beyond good conditions for wind power, Focus reported that another reason for the high renewables share was considerable lower electricity consumption. “Traditionally, electricity demand is lowest in the summer months, but apart from this, difficult conditions for industry and greater efforts to save energy are causing a decline in consumption across Europe,” Focus reported.

Fossil fuels such as coal were the first to fall victim to the drop in consumption, also due to lower prices for renewables. In the first half of 2023, renewables occupied a 57.7 percent share in net public electricity supply, Fraunhofer ISE reported last month.

As renewable power is expanded across Europe, several other countries saw record electricity generation from wind and solar for the month of July. These sources produced more power than any July before in Belgium, Poland and France, said Fraunhofer ISE’s Bruno Burger.

Fraunhofer ISE says net public electricity supply is “the electricity mix that actually comes out of the socket at home.” It includes only the generation from power plants for public electricity supply – it does not include power plants for large industry nor the electricity power plants use for their operation.

In contrast, Germany’s target to reach an 80 percent renewables share by 2030 refers to gross power consumption. As large industry still often uses coal or gas plants, the renewables share in gross power consumption is several percentage points lower than the share in public supply.

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A very sunny month of May, with record monthly solar power input of 8.8 billion kilowatt hours (kWh), made a big contribution, and June could even surpass this record, said the two organisations in a press release. “Twenty years ago, hardly anyone would have thought it possible for us to generate more than half of our electricity from renewable sources,” said BDEW head Kerstin Andreae.

She warned that a lack of skilled workers could represent a bottleneck for renewables buildout on the path to climate neutrality 2045, as many companies were had difficulties finding suitable employees today. “In the coming years, the situation could worsen drastically,” she said.

Overall gross electricity production was at 266 billion kWh in the first half of 2023, a decrease of 11 percent compared to the same period last year. Electricity consumption dropped from 281 billion kWh in the first half of 2022 to 263 billion kWh one year later.

High energy prices in the energy crisis have led to reduced energy use already during much of 2022, with households and industry cutting their use in response to market developments and pleas by the government to conserve energy. This trend also persisted in early 2023, energy market research group AGEB said in early June.

Of the total consumption in the first half of 2023, 58 billion kWh came from onshore wind, 33 billion kWh from photovoltaics, 22 billion kWh from biomass, 12 billion kWh from offshore wind, and 10 billion kWh from hydropower.

Germany aims to increase the share of renewables in electricity consumption to 80 percent by 2030 and have a largely emission-free supply by 2035.

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( Clean Energy Wire ) – Exceeding the 1.5°C / 2.7° F. temperature limit of the Paris Climate Agreement would jeopardise the prospect of living in security and prosperity in Germany and globally, says Germany’s first-ever National Security Strategy. In the document, the government addresses growing threats that include the consequences of climate change and the increased need for critical raw materials. Germany commits itself, among other things, to meeting NATO’s 2 percent target for defence spending, and to building up food and energy reserves for emergencies. At a time of upheaval for the global security environment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the strategy highlights the need to diversify the energy supply – even as the country moves towards a renewables-based economy.

In its first National Security Strategy, the German government has addressed climate change and the secured access to critical raw materials as some of the most pressing challenges the country is facing.

“Man-made climate change threatens our livelihoods, and it also has consequences for the stability of entire countries and regions,” German chancellor Olaf Scholz said in the strategy’s foreword.

The strategy crafted by several ministries and the chancellery argues that policies focussing on the global climate, the environment, food supply and resources “are security policy.” It states that the Paris Agreement’s target to limit global rise in average temperatures to 1.5°C “is a national and international target” for the federal government. “Exceeding this limit would jeopardise the prospect of living in security and prosperity in Germany and globally in the medium and long term.” At the national level, Germany will reach its climate targets, the government said. At the international level, it aims to make a “substantial contribution” to international climate finance also post-2025.
Key climate and energy aspects of the security strategy

The strategy comes at a time of upheaval for the security environment of Germany as well as that of its partners. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, chancellor Scholz used the term “Zeitenwende” (turn of an era) to describe the security implications for Germany and its international partners. The strategy calls Russia “the greatest threat to peace and security in the Euro-Atlantic area for the foreseeable future.”

In the document, Germany commits itself to meeting NATO’s 2 percent-target for defence spending and to building up food stocks and energy reserves for emergencies. The strategy’s main aim is to take into account for the first time all internal and external factores threatening the country’s security – not only in military terms, but also regarding possible attacks on critical infrastructure or overarching issues, such as climate change. The government defines its ‘integrated security policy’ approach as the protection against war and violence, the freedom to shape people’s lives within the framework of the liberal democratic order; and the safeguarding of people’s livelihoods. The strategy lays out basic policy guidelines to this end, but stops short of going into the details of each security aspect.

Image by Harald Funken from Pixabay

“All means and instruments must be integrated in order to protect our country against external threats,” said Scholz at a press conference in Berlin. “Without security, there is no freedom, no stability and no prosperity.”

“We paid for every cubic metre of Russian gas twofold and threefold with our national security” – Baerbock

Germany’s ruling coalition had agreed to present a “comprehensive national security strategy” – the first one of its kind – within the first year in office and had originally planned to publish it ahead of the Munich Security Conference in February. However, the drafting was delayed due to prolonged disputes within the coalition.

Already in early 2022, foreign minister Annalena Baerbock had said that the climate crisis would be at the heart of the strategy, as it was “the security policy question of our time.”

Climate change influences security policy across the world in many different ways. The effects of the global temperature rise include more frequent and extreme weather events, meaning that security threats like flooding, drought, health issues and famine are becoming more common around the world. This in turn is expected to lead to bigger migration movements, economic disruption and conflicts over resources such as food, water or energy.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a changing geopolitical landscape in a world moving towards renewable energy systems have put additional weight on the connection between security, climate and energy policy. The war on Ukraine and the parallel energy crisis also underlined the importance of a consistent strategy which can be adhered to by all ministries, from defence to energy. The war and its consequences forced Germany to radically rethink many fundamental policy fields – and especially its energy policy, given that the country used to be heavily dependent on Russian fossil fuels until about mid-2022.

“We paid for every cubic metre of Russian gas twofold and threefold with our national security,” Baerbock writes in the strategy’s foreword. “In future, we will focus more on security when it comes to decisions on economic policy. This holds true for the question as to where we buy medication, raw materials and energy.”

The strategy says that Germany will continue efforts to diversify its energy supply. “Although the energy transition is reducing dependence on fossil fuels, Germany will remain an importer of energy for the foreseeable future,” it says.

The foreign ministry took the lead on working out the security strategy. It had aimed for a “shared and inclusive process involving the public as well as experts”, and minister Baerbock travelled the country last summer to talk to citizens. However, the final version of the strategy had been kept under tight lock until the official publication.
Strategies on China and climate foreign policy to follow later this year

The government regards the national security strategy tightly intertwined with two other key documents it plans to release this year: its China strategy and its climate foreign policy strategy. Baerbock called climate foreign policy “an integral element of the security strategy”, as climate change undermined security, especially in vulnerable states. On China, the minister said that the country’s investments in infrastructure worldwide as part of the so-called Belt and Road initiative, such as for energy supply, could become a security issue.

The China strategy has also been delayed and will likely kept under wraps until China’s premier Li Qiang and several ministers travel to Berlin for bilateral government talks on 20 June. “Some officials in Berlin say that Scholz isn’t too unhappy about the China strategy delay,” Hans von der Burchard wrote recently in Politico. “This way, he won’t risk angry comments from his Chinese counterparts, considering that a first draft of the strategy was quite critical vis-à-vis Beijing.”

Baerbock said at the press conference that there was no black-and-white thinking in dealing with Beijing. There are fundamental differences with China, for example on questions of democracy, but cooperation is needed, for example in the fight against climate change.

Via Clean Energy Wire

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( Clean Energy Wire ) – The G7 group of influential economies have set up an international climate club to support the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, with a focus on pushing the climate-friendly transition of the industry sector.

The club is open to other countries and aims to raise climate action globally, the G7 stated in the agreed terms of reference. “Focusing in particular on the decarbonisation of industries, we will thereby contribute to unlocking green growth,” the group said in a statement following a video conference of the country’s leaders.

In the climate club, committed countries could become “international drivers for emissions reduction in industry,” said economy minister Robert Habeck. “We want to bring climate-friendly basic materials, such as green steel, to the market quickly, and to improve their opportunities internationally.” Overall, the club would be built on three pillars: climate mitigation by working towards a common understanding of how different measures can be made comparable, industry decarbonisation, and boosting international ambition through partnerships and cooperation.

The G7 asked the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) to host an interim secretariat.

Already at their 2022 summit meeting in the Bavarian Alps earlier this year, G7 leaders agreed to establish the climate club, a move that was seen as a win for chancellor Olaf Scholz, as he had been advocating it for some time. However, experts at the time said a lot remains to be done in defining what the club will actually do.

Initially, the climate club concept put a much greater focus on a common and uniform CO2 price among member countries. However, the idea was largely abandoned because it was seen as unrealistic to implement it, as key countries like the U.S. currently have no plans to implement a nationwide carbon price, let alone agree to international schemes.

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( Clean Energy Wire ) – 2022 will become a record year for solar power generation in Germany, data by research institute Fraunhofer ISE’s Energy Charts suggests.

“By mid-September, solar plants in Germany had already generated more electricity in 2022 than in the whole of 2021 or 2020,”Bruno Burger of Fraunhofer ISE wrote on Twitter. Solar power facilities have already fed more than 51 terawatt hours (TWh) into Germany’s power grid this year. The previous record for total annual solar power generation was 50 TWh in 2020, according to Fraunhofer.

This year’s record solar power production is caused by favourable weather conditions and by continuous additions to the country’s power generation capacity, as Germany is ramping up renewables to prepare its planned transition to a climate neutral economy.

The summer of 2022 in Germany was the sunniest, the sixth driest and among the four warmest on record, the country’s National Meteorological Service (DWD) said. Prolonged heat waves had hit Europe one year after heavy rain caused deadly floods in the centre of the continent in 2021.

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Via Clean Energy Wire

As a heat wave hits Europe exactly one year after heavy rain caused deadly floods in the centre of the continent in 2021, the focus of the public debate in Germany has again shifted to the impacts of a changing climate.

On 13 July 2022, the interior ministry announced an updated programme for a “new start in civil protection”. Interior minister Nancy Faeser said “the pandemic, extreme weather, floods, forest fires, and also the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine – all of these require us to better protect our population”. The strategy also includes plans for prevention, preparation, management and aftercare of disasters and stresses the need for early warnings. The ministry also announced that there will be a Civil Protection Day from 2023, where citizens will become better educated on how to protect themselves and others during disasters.

“Due to the consequences of the climate crisis, Germany faces so many genuine hot days that this poses a threat to nature and also to us humans, and we must prepare ourselves better for this,” environment minister Steffi Lemke told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk in an interview. Science shows that events like droughts and heat waves will happen more frequently and become more extreme in the future, she said. Germany must act in the short term – for example by conserving water in the face of a drought – but also introduce long-term measures like helping soils store more water through renaturation, and coming up with adaptation plans for local communities.

Climate change will pose further challenges in the future, the head of the Federal Office for Civil Protection (BBK), Ralph Tiesler, told Funke Mediengruppe. “Some areas should not be resettled given climate change and the acute threat of severe weather disasters and floods.”

Tiesler said every region in Germany had to be looked at closely in terms of the need to prepare for such disasters. “We still have time to develop protective concepts against the effects of the climate crisis and to take them into account in spatial planning.”

A heat wave with temperatures of around 40°C [104° F.] has hit Europe this week, with droughts and forest fires in Spain and Portugal as the extreme weather spreads to France and other parts of the continent. , more intense and longer-lasting because of climate change. A study published this week in Nature Communications found that Western Europe has become what researchers call a heat wave hot spot over the last four decades, with events increasing in frequency and cumulative intensity, the New York Times reported.

( Clean Energy Wire ) – Germany wants to fight the climate crisis and its heavy dependence on fossil fuel imports by speeding up the rollout of renewables with a massive overhaul of key energy legislation. In the “biggest energy policy reform in decades,” the coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP) proposes to lift the rollout of wind and solar power “to a completely new level” in a draft law amounting to more than 500 pages. It aims to free up new land for green power production, speed up permit procedures, and massively increase wind and solar additions to achieve a nearly 100-percent renewable power supply by 2035. The energy industry welcomed the package as a good starting point for the necessary faster roll-out of wind and solar energy in Germany. [UPDATE add reactions from industry]

After little more than 100 days in office, Germany’s new government has presented what it calls the “biggest energy policy reform in decades” to massively increase the buildout of renewable energies. The coalition partners SPD, Green Party and FDP say the more than 500-page so-called “Easter Package” of reform proposals tackles not only the climate crisis, but helps the country in its efforts to become independent of Russian fossil fuels.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz highlighted this double benefit of Germany’s goal to become climate-neutral by 2045 with the help of renewables. Today’s package is a “very important contribution” to these goals, said Scholz in the Bundestag during parliamentary question time. “With the ‘Easter Package’ we are showing what we intend to do. Now more than ever, we will become independent of the use of fossil resources. That is our task.”

Today’s package is part of a comprehensive programme of climate action measures the parties had promised for 2022 in last year’s coalition treaty. However, Russia’s war against Ukraine has added a sense of urgency to not only getting Germany’s policy back on track to reaching climate targets, but also becoming independent of fossil fuel imports as quickly as possible. The government said it sees renewable energies as “a matter of national security.” The economy ministry has said it will introduce a second package of legislative reforms by the summer.

The package includes draft reforms of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG), the offshore wind law, the energy industry law and legislation to speed up power transmission grid development. The package will now be sent to parliament and could be adopted still in the first half of 2022.

Germany’s energy industry association BDEW said the legislative drafts contained important decisions for the expansion of renewables in Germany, such as raised tender volumes for wind and solar and the introduction of contracts for difference. “It must be clear to all ministries involved and all levels – be it federal or state – that the expansion of renewable energies is the order of the day, not only for climate protection but also to become less dependent on fossil energy imports,” said BDEW head Kerstin Andreae.

FDP gives only provisional consent

There could be a big hurdle for the package in the further legislative process. The pro-business Free Democrats said their formal agreement to the package in cabinet is meant to get the process going. However, “deviations from the coalition agreement (e.g. climate-neutral electricity system 2035, CfD) must be corrected in parliament,” wrote deputy parliamentary group leader Lukas Köhler in a message on Twitter.

Renewables reform centrepiece of the ‘Easter Package’

The centrepiece of the reforms is the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) – the now 22-year-old legislation that enabled the share of renewable power to grow to almost 45 percent. Most importantly, the amendments provide for much higher capacity addition targets to reach the new government goal of having 80 percent renewable power (some 600 terawatt-hours) in the mix by 2030 and almost 100 percent green electricity by 2035.

By 2030, installed onshore wind capacity should reach 115 gigawatts (GW), the government says. Annual capacity additions therefore have to reach 10 GW as of 2025. Solar PV installations will amount to 22 GW per year as of 2026 to achieve a total capacity of 215 GW by the end of the decade. Offshore wind additions are increased as well to reach a minimum of 30 GW per 2030 and 40 GW by 2035, and 70 GW by 2045. While the government wants to incentivise the production and use of biomethane in highly flexible plants by increasing tender volumes, the use of biomass for power production will be superseded by its use in transport and industry.

In light of the war in Ukraine and the urgent need to become independent from imported fossil fuels, the ministry has increased these numbers again compared to a first proposal made in February 2022.
New distance and bird protection rules – and more money for communities

To ensure that these ambitious growth scenarios are not hampered by lengthy planning procedures, local opposition and contradictions with other protected goals, the government establishes the principle that the use of renewable energies is of overriding public interest and will be given priority over other concerns until greenhouse gas neutrality is achieved.

To this end, the economy and climate ministry together with the environment ministry already presented a new compromise that is to reconcile bird protection and wind energy expansion.

With new distance rules between wind turbines and weather radar installations as well as rotating radio beacons, which so far prevented the building of new wind parks in their vicinity, some 5 gigawatts of onshore wind capacity can be freed up, allowing for around 1,200 new wind turbines to be built within a short time, economy and climate minister Robert Habeck said on Tuesday (5 April) in Berlin.

To achieve higher acceptance in the population, citizen energy initiatives will be exempt from participating in the tender scheme; it will be made easier for local communities to benefit financially from wind parks and ground-mounted solar PV nearby.

Climate neutrality becomes guideline for the grid

In addition, the “Easter Package” also includes changes to federal grid planning. In general, all future power network planning is to be undertaken to achieve a climate-neutral grid in the most efficient way; and to ensure that the grid will keep track with the renewables expansion at hand. Initially, 19 new grid expansion projects will become part of the federal grid requirement plan, and another 17 will be amended to best serve the energy industry. To make grid planning and building faster – Germany lags behind with its grid expansion plans by several years – permission procedures are to be simplified and hurdles reduced, the government says.

While renewables expansion would receive a significant boost through the package, the drafts did not address grid expansion sufficiently, said Tim Meyerjürgens, COO of power transmission grid operator TenneT. Both would be needed to make the energy transition a success. “We had introduced further important procedural simplifications into the discussion, but we still see too little of this in the current draft law for a significantly accelerated grid expansion on land and at sea in the future,” said Meyerjürgens.

“A new impetus in energy and climate policy that many have been waiting for” – dena

The renewable energy industry welcomed the proposals as a first step, but called for changes in the legislative process. “We still see a need to make adjustments across all renewable energies. These changes must be made with the summer package at the latest,” said renewables association BEE president Simone Peter. The BEE highlighted shortcomings on solar power. “The solar targets set out in the cabinet draft can only be achieved if the government makes self-supply and direct supply with solar power significantly more attractive and provides sufficient site areas for solar parks,” said Peter.

Wind energy association BWE says the Ukraine war and the wish to become independent of Russian fossil fuels has provided an extra push to renewables development. “[The Easter Package] shows that, with energy security in mind, there is a great will to advance wind energy quickly,” said BWE president Hermann Albers. He added that the upcoming ‘Summer Package’ should ensure that approval procedures for new wind parks are accelerated. “We must significantly reduce the approval period from the current average of six years.”

Andreas Kuhlmann, head of the German Energy Agency (dena), said the proposals represented “a new impetus in energy and climate policy that many have been waiting for.” However, he also said that the measures outlined would not be sufficient to reach the goals the government laid out in its coalition agreement. Parliament would “hopefully” introduce a number of changes, said Kuhlmann.

Environmental NGO Greenpeace Germany welcomed the package. “Habeck’s legislative package is more resolute than anything we have seen on this in recent years,” said the NGO’s Reenie Vietheer, but criticised that citizens’ energy had received too little attention.

German environmental umbrella organisation DNR called the package “a first important step” towards energy sovereignty through wind and solar power. DNR president Kai Niebert called for adjustments in the parliamentary process. “Among other things, we need the introduction of a solar obligation on all roofs, the abolition of arbitrary distance requirements to residential settlements and the accompanying provision of sufficient areas for onshore wind energy,” said Niebert.

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Via Clean Energy Wire

In the short term, RWE and Uniper are finalising contracts to rent three floating LNG terminals that could be used to import liquefied natural gas directly into Germany, possibly already in the coming winter. Habeck commended the “great unity” of European states and transatlantic partners in their efforts to become independent from Russian energy. [UPDATE adds Habeck quote “We don’t have to let ourselves be blackmailed.”]

Germany can become independent from Russian coal by autumn, virtually independent from the country’s oil by the end of 2022, and largely do without its natural gas by summer 2024, said economy and climate minister Robert Habeck. However, presenting an update on Germany’s energy supply security and the status of dependence on Russian deliveries, the Green Party politician reiterated the government’s stance that it is too early for an immediate energy embargo.

“Companies are letting contracts with Russian suppliers expire, not renewing them and switching to other suppliers,” Habeck told journalists in Berlin. “And at an incredible pace.” Habeck commended the “great unity” of European states and transatlantic partners in their efforts to become independent from Russian energy. It is this unity that would help “put a stop to Putin’s game.”

As Habeck spoke in Berlin, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. President Joe Biden announced a deal that would see the U.S. deliver an additional 15 billion cubic metres (bcm) of LNG to the EU in 2022.

In the midst of the Energiewende, Germany still relies heavily on imports of fossil fuels. In 2021, about 35 percent of crude oil, 55 percent of natural gas and almost half of hard coal imports came from Russia. Due to this dependence, chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly warned of a sudden halt of deliveries from Russia, saying this would plunge Germany and Europe into a recession.

According to the government’s “Energy Security Progress Report,” oil imports from Russia will be halved by mid-2022 and the share of hard coal imports reduced from 50 to 25 percent already in the coming weeks. The share of natural gas supplies from Russia sank to about 40 percent by the end of the first quarter 2022 (55% for full 2021), said the report. This happened thanks to increased pipeline supplies from Norway and the Netherlands, and via LNG contracts, but came at a high cost, as prices for gas have increased substantially in recent months.

Too early for an embargo, more time needed to replace Russian gas

Habeck reiterated that it was too early for an all-out embargo on Russian energy supplies, but that this did not mean that the government was not preparing to stop these supplies. He said it would make “a big difference” whether the government decided to introduce such a step, or whether the Russian president halted supplies.

“If we decide it ourselves, we also have to take responsibility for it, in all its consequences, all the way to the end,” said Habeck.

The minister added there was not yet a supply bottleneck in Germany and the country still had options to act. These might lead to constraints, but “we don’t have to let ourselves be blackmailed.”

The country needs more time to replace Russian deliveries, especially of natural gas, said Habeck. “We still have a way to go and we will only be able to say goodbye to Russian gas with a joint effort – the federal government, the states, local authorities, companies and private households together.” The minister said the expansion of renewables, the consistent reduction of consumption at all levels, diversification and the rapid ramp-up of hydrogen are imperative for the country to be able to do without Russian gas by mid-2024.

In the short term, energy companies RWE and Uniper are finalising contracts to lease three floating LNG terminals (FSRU) that could be used to import liquefied natural gas directly into Germany as early as next winter.

With the leasing of the three floating terminals, around 27 bcm of LNG could be landed in the final stage step by step by summer 2024. As early as in the winter of 2022/2023, an additional 7.5 bcm of LNG would be available on the market.

Bloomberg’s Sergio Chapa reported that American gas exporters and German buyers of the power-plant fuel will meet next week in Berlin to speed up talks on how the U.S. can help the European industrial powerhouse wean itself off Russian supplies. The U.S. Embassy in Germany is coordinating the meeting with the liquefied natural gas suppliers, expected to take place after the March 29-30 Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue conference, people familiar with the plans said.

Influence of Russian oil company “a mistake” – Habeck

Reducing oil imports from Russia presents an additional problem for the German government. About a third of Russian supplies are imported to be processed in the Schwedt refinery in Brandenburg. As this is largely owned by the Russian company Rosneft, Habeck does not expect it to reduce imports from Russia voluntarily, like other companies have signalled already.

“You don’t have to be particularly bright to realise that a Russian state-owned company does not want to become independent of Russian oil in this situation,” said Habeck. It turned out to be “a mistake” to allow a Russian company such responsibility regarding the energy supply of this region and beyond. “But we are also working on this,” said Habeck without providing details.

Via Clean Energy Wire

The minister called climate change “the security policy question of our time” and said the “foundations for the security of our lives” depend on “getting a grip on” it. Her government’s foreign policy on the issue would become an integral element of the upcoming strategy.

“Every tonne less CO2, every tenth of a degree less global warming is a contribution to human security,” she told security policy stakeholders in Berlin. Baerbock started her speech talking about Russia’s war against Ukraine and a more traditional element of security policy, the energy supply and Germany’s dependence on imported fossil fuels – to a large extent from Russia.

“Moving away from fossil fuels faster, and towards renewable, efficient energy is not just investing in cleaner energy, it is investing in our security and therefore our freedom,” said Baerbock. She acknowledged that the country will have to import renewable energy sources in the future, such as green hydrogen.

The government plans to develop a national security strategy together with security policy stakeholders such as lawmakers, researchers, associations and civil society. The country does not yet have such a strategy.

The war against Ukraine has forced Germany to radically rethink many fundamental policy fields, such as its energy policy, given that the country is heavily dependent on Russian fossil fuels.

Via Clean Energy Wire