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The German Energiewend - An Introduction

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  • Christian von Hirschhausen

Abstract

The German government's multi-decade effort to transition to a low-carbon, renew-ables-based energy economy is now commonly known as "energiewende" ("energy transition"). The transition has four major objectives: increasing the share of renewables to at least 80% (in electricity) and 60% for total final energy consumption, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% (basis: 1990), phasing out nuclear energy by 2022, and increasing energy efficiency significantly; the government also encourages broad public participation in energy policy discussions and profit sharing. This paper reviews the major events leading to the decision to go "energiewende" in 2010/11 and the ensuing developments in the electricity sector. We survey the rapidly growing body of literature on the German energiewende and place the other core papers of this Special Section of EEEP in perspective.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian von Hirschhausen, 2014. "The German Energiewend - An Introduction," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    • Handle: RePEc:aen:eeepjl:eeep3_2_01intro
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    Cited by:

    1. Lone Werner & Bert Scholtens, 2017. "Firm Type, Feed-in Tariff, and Wind Energy Investment in Germany: An Investigation of Decision Making Factors of Energy Producers Regarding Investing in Wind Energy Capacity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(2), pages 402-411, April.
    2. Višković, Verena & Chen, Yihsu & Siddiqui, Afzal S., 2017. "Implications of the EU Emissions Trading System for the South-East Europe Regional Electricity Market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 251-261.
    3. Hitaj, Claudia & Löschel, Andreas, 2019. "The impact of a feed-in tariff on wind power development in Germany," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 18-35.
    4. Siddiqui, Afzal S. & Tanaka, Makoto & Chen, Yihsu, 2019. "Sustainable transmission planning in imperfectly competitive electricity industries: Balancing economic and environmental outcomes," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 275(1), pages 208-223.
    5. Rocha, Paula & Kaut, Michal & Siddiqui, Afzal S., 2016. "Energy-efficient building retrofits: An assessment of regulatory proposals under uncertainty," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 278-287.
    6. Bloess, Andreas, 2019. "Impacts of heat sector transformation on Germany’s power system through increased use of power-to-heat," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 560-580.
    7. Raphael Bointner & Simon Pezzutto & Wolfram Sparber, 2016. "Scenarios of public energy research and development expenditures: financing energy innovation in Europe," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(4), pages 470-488, July.
    8. Rintamäki, Tuomas & Siddiqui, Afzal S. & Salo, Ahti, 2017. "Does renewable energy generation decrease the volatility of electricity prices? An analysis of Denmark and Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 270-282.
    9. Hake, Jürgen-Friedrich & Fischer, Wolfgang & Venghaus, Sandra & Weckenbrock, Christoph, 2015. "The German Energiewende – History and status quo," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(P3), pages 532-546.
    10. Ringel, Marc & Schlomann, Barbara & Krail, Michael & Rohde, Clemens, 2016. "Towards a green economy in Germany? The role of energy efficiency policies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1293-1303.
    11. Debia, Sébastien & Pineau, Pierre-Olivier & Siddiqui, Afzal S., 2019. "Strategic use of storage: The impact of carbon policy, resource availability, and technology efficiency on a renewable-thermal power system," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 100-122.
    12. Knaut, Andreas & Tode, Christian & Lindenberger, Dietmar & Malischek, Raimund & Paulus, Simon & Wagner, Johannes, 2016. "The reference forecast of the German energy transition—An outlook on electricity markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 477-491.

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