Schleswig-Holstein: German Energy Politics in the Making

The challenges facing Schleswig-Holstein with regard to power generation and distribution are such that they could well determine the future power generation infrastructure for the entire Federal Republic of Germany. The northern German state has three nuclear power plants—two of which are extremely accident-prone—, concrete plans for four new coal-fired power plants as well as huge off-shore parks, and underground CO2 storage is also discussed as a possibility. The decisions to be made in Schleswig-Holstein will likely be indicative of whether Germany as a whole is indeed making headway with its announced transition to renewables or whether it will continue to pursue all strategies at once, resulting in essence with nothing.

According to state government statistics, renewables produced in Schleswig-Holstein comprised more than 50 percent of the state’s overall power consumption as early as 2008. The main power sources were wind power, with approximately 5.3 million kilowatt hours, and biogas with 0.7 million kilowatt hours.

Biogas

According to the state’s Agricultural Chamber, Schleswig-Holstein had 324 biogas plants in 2009 and further plants are in planning. By 2012, this number can be expected to rise to 600.

In 2010, the state also grew corn on some 184,000 hectares of land, approximately one half of which destined for biogas production. With its total area of arable land at 660,000 hectares, Schleswig-Holstein is thus using 30% of its arable land for biogas corn. If the number of biogas plants rises to 600 as forecasted, that state will have to use 50% of its arable land for biogas corn. As anyone may guess, these developments are highly problematic.

For that reason, I would rather like to see more generation of bio natural gas, the bio-mechanical processing of biogas into bio natural gas, and the tie-in of that gas into the federal natural gas network. In this way, up to 90% of the current use of natural gas could be gradually replaced by biogas. Biogas could then be used in combined heat and power (CHP) plants, which, usually being in or near cities, have the heat sinks required for the use of the waste heat.

The NaWaRo Bonus—a bonus system for the use of renewable resources that is regulated by Germany’s Renewable Energies Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG)—is also in dire need of improvement. With the way the Act is written now, only corn cultivation is promoted. The next revision of the Act, to come into force this year, should thus include standards with regard to the minimum diversity of crop rotations as well as the limitations of possible negative environmental impacts.

Wind energy

According to preliminary estimates, wind power production in Schleswig-Holstein had reached over six million kilowatt hours by 2010. With that, a 60% reliance on renewable energy was probably met in 2010, meaning that the goal of attaining 100% reliance by 2020 is well within reach. In 2010, the state parliament passed a bill to double the amount of land designated as potential wind farm area, thereby reaching 1.5% of the state’s overall area. It also agreed to promote repowering, the verification of interval rules, and the realignment of siting boundaries. Together, these measures will allow to increase installed wind capacity to 9,000 megawatt, representing a power generation of approximately 20 terawatt hours. Starting 2013, the state will also receive wind energy from the offshore wind parks that are now in planning.

However, as if in an effort to undo the progress made, Schleswig-Holstein is, at the same time, continuing with plans to build four 800 MW coal-fired power plants in Brunsbüttel and to resume operations of three nuclear power plants (in Krümmel, Brunsbrüttel, and Brokdorf).

Power grids

Due to the increased feed-in of renewable energies, Schleswig-Holstein’s power grids are in need of expansion—a fact that has been known for many years. A 2002 calculation of E.ON Netz, Germany’s largest power grid operator, estimated the need for three new 110 KV transmission sections, each between 34 and 55 km long, if the grid is to handle the additional 4 gigawatt that are anticipated. Nearly nine years later, not one new transmission section stands. This is presumably because E.ON Netz insists on building overhead lines instead of underground cables, despite massive opposition from citizens living in close proximity to the lines as well as repeated and unanimous stated opposition from various levels of politics. The grid operator refuses to transition to underground cables even despite the fact that under the 2007 Infrastructure Planning Acceleration Act (Infrastrukturplanungsbeschleunigungsgesetz , IPlanBG) and the 2008 Transmission Line Extension Act (Energieleitungsausbaugesetz, EnLAG), the additional costs of installing underground cables can be allocated elsewhere and cancelled out.

In addition to the potential to expand onshore renewable energies, Schleswig-Holstein will also be generating offshore wind energy at a capacity of 3-4 GW. Transmitting and distributing this new energy will require the further expansion of the power grid, not only for the 110 KV high voltage lines but also for 380 KV extra-high voltage lines. At least two new 380 KV lines will be needed—one on the state’s west coast and one its east coast. Finally, the grid not only has to be able to feed in electricity from various sources but to transmit the electricity across the Elbe River to the consumer hubs.

It is hard to imagine how an energy portfolio consisting of 2 GW nuclear capacity, up to 4 GW coal capacity, 3 GW (and eventually even more) offshore capacity, plus anticipated additional increases in the state’s onshore capacity are to be transmitted southward all at the same time. The gigantic grid expansion required for this undertaking would be economically nonsensical and would hardly gain acceptance!

In that context, one advantage of a nuclear power phase-out is that it frees up power line capacity, which can then be used by wind energy without having to expand the grid.

Robert Habeck, is floor leader of the Green Party in the State Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein and was State Chairman of the Green Party from 2004 to 2009. He is a writer and lives with his wife and four sons in Flensburg, close to the Danish border.