Im 100% on board with this specific piece. I can witness the dreams and hopes being dashed IN REALTIME in germany. Have been a strong nuclear advocate since before Fukushima turned the narrative upside down and look where we are in terms of the "ENERGY TRANSITION".
Whats worse, even worse: Both germany high command as well as the EU (Leyen) actually DOUBLING DOWN on their horrible, nightmarish decisions.
It has been said a couple of times but the reality is this: A lot more pain will be necesarry for policemakers to acknowledge errors and change policies.
By then however, the damage has been done and it will take a decade to undo it, in the best case. In the worst, and likely case, it cant be undone and will go down in history at the point in time when western civilization and their hybris initiated the slow but inevitable downfall.
Yes, they are not straying from the transition path and this is getting increasingly scary. What's the situation with electricity bills in Germany? Are people still ready to "freeze for freedom"?
The "transition" can not succeed. In my opinion, due to phyiscal laws, its impossible to transition from "BAD FOSSIL FUELS" to "GOOD RENEWABLES". There are matters of insufficient raw commodity amounts (copper etc), questions of baseload / energy storage to issues of "the grid is lacking the capacity to accommodate the transition).
Let me repeat that: The Energy Transitition, as it is sold to us, can not succeed, in my opinion. If its based on solar and wind, it is a failure, now or in 5 years.
That said in regards to your question, power prices in germany, for new contracts, are sitting at a whooping 0.40 to 0.45 € per kWh, excluding smth like 15 to 25 € fixed costs per month.
Gas is at approx 0.15 to 0.20 € per kWh equivalent.
The issue that most writers dont know is that germanys power and gas market is somewhat unique in that you dont pay "spot", but every private user has a fixed contract that lasts between 1 and 2 years, usually 1 year. This means a lot of people, bascially everyone but the largest companies, are still paying "old" prices for power and gas (approx 30 % less for power, 50 % less for gas). So outside of general inflation, noone is feeling the pain just yet.
However, as the year goes by, more and more contracts run out and will be renewed at new terms, up 50 to 100% each (power/gas respectively).
Only then can one get a real feel for the situation on the ground. My gut is telling me it will be a huge deal.
The govt can be happy that a lot of (semi major) elections are rolling in within the next couple weeks, before people get their new bills.
So, something similar to what happened in the UK is about to start happening in Germany, too, with regard to bills and energy poverty? Is German media sounding the alarm?
Any German who can read and has internet access must know what is coming in the near future re: energy. Has German public opinion shifted at all with respect to the green energy movement, the limitations of wind and solar, the shuttering of the last three nuclear power plants in Germany, and the idiotic policies of the last decades which have lead to over-reliance on Russian energy? Why or why not?
Currently after signing with Algeria, the Italian government also intends to strike a deal with both Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the country's gas needs. I'm wondering why go around shopping individually when collectively the EU sanctions Russia? Shouldn't it also shop collectively?
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that your use of the word "litter" was intentionally ambiguous... 😁
"Rome had more sense than Sofia...." Well that's debatable - my understanding is that Bulgaria still operates its nuclear reactors - the brain trust in Rome on the other hand elected to shut down five perfectly good nuclear power plants in the '80s which by all accounts are still around collecting dust. And now Italy purchases electricity produced in nuclear power plants from France Austria and Switzerland... Pure genius!
Regarding solar power - I am sure you are aware of this monumental solar project in Australia with a connector to Singapore... If I read the figures correctly about this project (and I struggle to believe the numbers) they intend to cover an area of 120 square kilometers with solar panels... This is bigger than some microstates. Who foots the bill for this kind of insanity??
I didn't know about Italy's nuclear plants. Why on earth would they do it? Chernobyl anxiety? Bulgaria closed most of its perfectly good reactors because Brussels said so. Now they can no longer be restarted should the need arise. So we'd need to build a new one, which we have been trying to do for more than a decade now.
I'll look into the Australian project, it sounds impressive.
Im 100% on board with this specific piece. I can witness the dreams and hopes being dashed IN REALTIME in germany. Have been a strong nuclear advocate since before Fukushima turned the narrative upside down and look where we are in terms of the "ENERGY TRANSITION".
Whats worse, even worse: Both germany high command as well as the EU (Leyen) actually DOUBLING DOWN on their horrible, nightmarish decisions.
It has been said a couple of times but the reality is this: A lot more pain will be necesarry for policemakers to acknowledge errors and change policies.
By then however, the damage has been done and it will take a decade to undo it, in the best case. In the worst, and likely case, it cant be undone and will go down in history at the point in time when western civilization and their hybris initiated the slow but inevitable downfall.
Yes, they are not straying from the transition path and this is getting increasingly scary. What's the situation with electricity bills in Germany? Are people still ready to "freeze for freedom"?
The "transition" can not succeed. In my opinion, due to phyiscal laws, its impossible to transition from "BAD FOSSIL FUELS" to "GOOD RENEWABLES". There are matters of insufficient raw commodity amounts (copper etc), questions of baseload / energy storage to issues of "the grid is lacking the capacity to accommodate the transition).
Let me repeat that: The Energy Transitition, as it is sold to us, can not succeed, in my opinion. If its based on solar and wind, it is a failure, now or in 5 years.
That said in regards to your question, power prices in germany, for new contracts, are sitting at a whooping 0.40 to 0.45 € per kWh, excluding smth like 15 to 25 € fixed costs per month.
Gas is at approx 0.15 to 0.20 € per kWh equivalent.
The issue that most writers dont know is that germanys power and gas market is somewhat unique in that you dont pay "spot", but every private user has a fixed contract that lasts between 1 and 2 years, usually 1 year. This means a lot of people, bascially everyone but the largest companies, are still paying "old" prices for power and gas (approx 30 % less for power, 50 % less for gas). So outside of general inflation, noone is feeling the pain just yet.
However, as the year goes by, more and more contracts run out and will be renewed at new terms, up 50 to 100% each (power/gas respectively).
Only then can one get a real feel for the situation on the ground. My gut is telling me it will be a huge deal.
The govt can be happy that a lot of (semi major) elections are rolling in within the next couple weeks, before people get their new bills.
Thats my take, Irina.
So, something similar to what happened in the UK is about to start happening in Germany, too, with regard to bills and energy poverty? Is German media sounding the alarm?
Any German who can read and has internet access must know what is coming in the near future re: energy. Has German public opinion shifted at all with respect to the green energy movement, the limitations of wind and solar, the shuttering of the last three nuclear power plants in Germany, and the idiotic policies of the last decades which have lead to over-reliance on Russian energy? Why or why not?
Reality is what you run into when you’re wrong. (Dallas Willard)
It is difficult to get a man to understand how he is wrong when his salary depends on him not understanding how he is wrong...
Sad but true.
Irina, I love your understatements, and should I say, "graveyard humor".
Thank you!
EROEI is physics. At 5:1 we go back to 1770. World needs Crash SMR adoption instead of utopian fairy tales with Battery fairies...
Currently after signing with Algeria, the Italian government also intends to strike a deal with both Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the country's gas needs. I'm wondering why go around shopping individually when collectively the EU sanctions Russia? Shouldn't it also shop collectively?
Yes, they were supposed to shop collectively for gas to get the best deals, according to Brussels.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that your use of the word "litter" was intentionally ambiguous... 😁
"Rome had more sense than Sofia...." Well that's debatable - my understanding is that Bulgaria still operates its nuclear reactors - the brain trust in Rome on the other hand elected to shut down five perfectly good nuclear power plants in the '80s which by all accounts are still around collecting dust. And now Italy purchases electricity produced in nuclear power plants from France Austria and Switzerland... Pure genius!
Regarding solar power - I am sure you are aware of this monumental solar project in Australia with a connector to Singapore... If I read the figures correctly about this project (and I struggle to believe the numbers) they intend to cover an area of 120 square kilometers with solar panels... This is bigger than some microstates. Who foots the bill for this kind of insanity??
I didn't know about Italy's nuclear plants. Why on earth would they do it? Chernobyl anxiety? Bulgaria closed most of its perfectly good reactors because Brussels said so. Now they can no longer be restarted should the need arise. So we'd need to build a new one, which we have been trying to do for more than a decade now.
I'll look into the Australian project, it sounds impressive.
Yes in Italy shortly after the Chernobyl accident the government submitted the nuclear question in a referendum to the public...
Here is a link to the solar project in Australia I mentioned earlier -
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joel-carlson-b91234103_sun-cable-unveils-staggering-scale-of-world-activity-6924802447697723392-TGuI?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=android_app