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Berlin goes for 100% renewable energy, in buying back the grid

The new municipal utility would work towards a 100 percent renewable supply of energy starting with distributed cogeneration units whose efficiencies are at least 80 percent. And as Germans always understand, the path to a greater share of renewable energy always requires energy conservation and efficiency, so the new utility would also focus on these goals

Berlin to buy back grid and go 100 percent renewable, Renewables International 18 Dec12, The German capital has resolved to buy back its power supply. On Wednesday, the grand coalition that governs the city-state passed a resolution to buy back its grid and switch to renewables.

On Wednesday, the grand coalition of Christian Democrats and Social
Democrats governing the city-state of Berlin announced that it was
taking power supply back into its own hands and switching to
renewables. Next week, Berlin’s Senate (equivalent to City Hall
because the city is simultaneously a state) is to review the bill,
which includes the founding of a municipal utility under the direction
of BSR, the city’s waste authority, which already operates a number of
large photovoltaic arrays and waste incinerators that generate
electricity…..
. A citizens group is taking part in the round of bidding and wants to
have the grid democratized as a neutral trading platform. As Stefan
Taschner, spokesperson of the Energy Roundtable that came out of the
ground-roots movement, put it, “At least 51 percent of the power grid
should be in Berlin hands.” In October, Verdi, Germany’s largest labor
union, stated its support for the “re-communalization” of the
municipal power grid “provided that employees are not detrimentally
affected.” Verdi argues that energy supply is a basic public service
that should not serve profit motives.

The new municipal utility would work towards a 100 percent renewable
supply of energy starting with distributed cogeneration units whose
efficiencies are at least 80 percent. And as Germans always
understand, the path to a greater share of renewable energy always
requires energy conservation and efficiency, so the new utility would
also focus on these goals. The new state-owned company would then take
over the grid starting in 2015. The utility would not be allowed to
financially support the production and sale of energy from nuclear or
coal plants. Everyone currently employed at Vattenfall’s grid
subsidiary would be offered a job at the new utility under the same
terms. (Heiko Schwarzburger / Craig Morris)
http://www.renewablesinternational.net/berlin-to-buy-back-grid-and-go-100-percent-renewable/150/510/59177/

December 18, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, renewable