GERMANY BUILDS OFFSHORE WIND BIGTIME

Following a measure passed by the German Bundestag (lower house of parliament) in June 2008 mandating the development of 30% of German electricity from New Energy by 2020, the Merkel government announced plans to build 30 offshore wind installations and obtain 25,000 megawatts of electricity from wind by 2030.

At the same time, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government tightened its alliance with the more liberal Social Democrats, its governing coalition partners, by announcing it will honor the previous Green Party government’s decision to phase out the country’s 17 nuclear power plants by 2020.

Chancellor Merkel personally opposes the nuclear phase out on the grounds the greenhouse gas emissions-free plants are needed for Germany to meet its EU goals in the mitigation of global climate change.

Wolfgang Tiefensee, Merkel’s Transport Minister and a Social Democrat: "We believe in renewable energy and not in nuclear energy."

Nuclear's problems and prohibitive costs are well documented by NewEnergyNews contributor Anne B. Butterfield in her piece in the left column.

A German environmental minister confided recently to NewEnergyNews that they intend to continue building wind and solar infrastructure and incurring the expense in anticipation of the post-2012 period when they expect energy to be much more expensive and energy assets to be much more valuable. He said they are laughing at George Bush now and expect to be laughing louder and reaping the benefits later.

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Germany wants to build 30 windfarms
July 6, 2008 (AFP)

WHO
Wolfgang Tiefensee, Transport Minister, Germany;

WHAT
Tiefensee announced the German government’s plans for 30 offshore wind farms.

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WHEN
- According to Tiefensee, Germany wants to develop 25,000 megawatts of wind capacity by 2030.
- The 1st German offshore installation will be installed in late 2008.

WHERE
- Germany plans to build offshore in the Baltic and North Seas.
- The 1st German offshore installation will be in the North Sea off Borkum Island.

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WHY
- Wind presently produces 7% of German power.
- Initial plans for offshore wind are to install 2,000 turbines producing 11,000 megawatts.
- The Borkum Island installation’s turbines will be manufactured by French energy giant Areva. Germany’s Prokon Nord will handle the project.

QUOTES
Wolfgang Tiefensee, Transport Minister, Germany: "The rise in the oil price has made this all the more pressing and the interest from investors shows that it is economically viable…"