In this episode, K&L Gates’ Berlin partner Annette Mutschler-Siebert and Hydrogen Rising co-host Sandi Safro discuss hydrogen developments in Germany, including the shift from the R&D phase to projects.
On May 15, 2014, K&L Gates will host its annual event on investment in renewable energy in its Frankfurt office. The event is co-sponsored by Grontmij and Alexa Capital.
The program will address recent developments that shape the environment of investment in renewable energy, focusing on investment in the UK while also covering German and European trends.
As in previous years, the program will combine legal and commercial perspectives, and presents speakers with professional backgrounds in project development, M&A, finance and law, all widely experienced in the renewable energy sector.
This year, program and speakers include:
Gerard Reid, Partner, Alexa Capital
Anthony Fine, Partner, K&L Gates, London
Paul Tetlow, Partner, K&L Gates, London
Vijay Shinde, Head of UK Grid Services, Grontmij, Newcastle
Dr. Felix Grolman, CEO, Grundgrün Energie GmbH
Ian Nolan, Chief Investment Officer, Green Investment Bank
Mark Henderson, Partner, Greencoat Capital
Nick Boyle, CEO, Lightsource
Thomas Kercher, CEO, PFALZSOLAR GmbH
Oliver Christof & Constantin Windisch-Graetz, Christof AG
Anthony Fine, K&L Gates (Chair)
Vijay Shinde, Grontmij
Gerard Reid, Alexa Capital
Felix Groelman, Grundgrün Energie GmbH
Mark Henderson, Greencoat Capital
Nick Boyle, Lightsource
For more information: click here.
For registration: click here.
In March 2014, the German government presented the details of its plans for changes in the country’s renewable energy support scheme. The planned legislation (the “Draft”), which passed the cabinet on 8 April 2014, seeks to curb the increase of energy costs and to promote a stronger market integration of renewable energy production.
Under the Renewable Energies Act (“EEG”), renewable energy producers are entitled to fixed feed-in tariffs and to priority feed-in into the grids. The spread between the market price and the feed-in tariff is levied to electricity consumers by a renewable energy surcharge (“EEG Surcharge”) whereby energy-intensive industries benefit from a reduction.
Under the EEG support scheme, renewable energy sources have experienced a boom in Germany, now serving as a source for about 25 % of the country’s electricity consumption – four times as much as a decade ago. In turn, the system has increasingly been put under political pressure as energy costs (especially for households) continue to increase. In addition, the support scheme is held to produce a paradox effect: whereas consumer prices increase due to the EEG Surcharge that levies the feed-in tariffs, wholesale electricity prices plunge because the rapidly growing renewables are flooding the market. The effect of this price development is tangible: Germany’s second largest utility, RWE AG from Essen, whose core business is electricity delivery, has announced a net loss for the year 2013 of 2.8 billion Euros. It was RWE’s first loss-making year since the end of the Second World War. Read More
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