Editorial December

Just before Christmas, as national and international stakeholders in the energy sector, we are probably all wondering what will happen in 2017. Will the global climate negotiations continue? Will the EU reach its climate goals and the expansion targets for renewable energy sources? How will the energy market reform affect the renewable energy sector and the rest of the energy world?

These are all questions that we cannot answer precisely today. We would like to emphasise three more reassuring aspects here. First: the generation costs of renewable energy, especially onshore wind energy, solar power and, in recent times, offshore wind too, are so low that they will all find their place in the energy market. If the CO2 emission charges are also levied increasingly based on the cause principle – as is expected – renewable energy sources will be even better positioned in the electricity and heat market than they already are today.

Second: companies in the new IT industry, in the electromobility sector and in a growing segment of the “traditional” industry want their energy to come largely or even completely from CO2-free sources. The “push” from politics has been increasingly supplemented by a “pull” from industrial energy demand. Third: there is an increasingly diverse range of tools for adapting the energy demand to the supply of fluctuating renewable energy sources. This paradigm shift is now increasingly gaining impetus thanks to energy storage facilities, sector coupling and flexible energy demand.

Accordingly, a lot of question marks remain for 2017, but we firmly believe that the national and international momentum is moving to largely CO2-free energy generation. Given this positive background, we at the Renewable Energy Hamburg Cluster wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and all the best for 2017!