Critics say they're all just drops in a bucket that will never amount to much. Proponents say they're the first ripples of a much more significant market change. When it comes to renewable energy, there is only one thing that everybody can agree on: renewables offer unique benefits and are dogged by unique challenges. AmCham Germany member companies  AS Solar GmbH,  Windreich AG, and  McDonald's Deutschland discuss current roadblocks to renewable-energy generation as well as their own success stories with project financing and efficiency measures. In the end, these three companies know that all their individual drops will add up to make a splash.

How are the cutbacks in solar subsidies likely to affect the solar industry in Germany?

The recent and surprising cuts in subsidies for solar energy will have a long-term negative impact on German solar companies – tens of thousands of jobs could potentially be lost. Of course, we will always strive for success, even in new market structures. These efforts usually pay off for us. However, the government’s new plans will bring about massive changes in the previous legal framework. As a result, we are no longer able to plan with much certainty or confidence. We find this policy beyond shortsighted, especially since the solar energy industry had almost achieved its objective of being able to conduct business in the market without subsidies. 

 In light of the increasing competition from Chinese solar-panel producers, is the “Made in Germany” brand still valuable to investors and consumers?

We have no intention of turning a blind eye to competition in the international market. That being said, the fact remains that the “Made in Germany” label is the only surefire indication that solar modules and inverters have that special
quality that comes from experienced and trustworthy manufacturers. When you get a photovoltaic plant that works reliably for more than 20 years, you start to understand the payoff of that label. We will continue to rely on this unrivaled quality and look to the number of our satisfied customers, currently in the tens of thousands, for proof of the soundness of our approach.

What is AS Solar’s opinion on those parts of the German government’s
budget for developmental aid that potentially bolster foreign solar industries?

The government should focus its attention on precisely this point when revising the Renewable Energy Sources Act. It would be to the government’s credit to support and protect the domestic solar industry, unlikely though this is. Instead, the very existence of our industry is threatened. The very problematic development aid in question, which winds up helping Asian solar companies, has been championed mostly by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology under Minister Philipp Rösler and regrettably supported by Minister of the Environment Norbert Röttgen.

What new technologies are being developed that will make solar energy more competitive in Germany in terms of both domestic energy production and of solar-energy technology exports?

Even after the planned legislative changes, installing a photovoltaic plant will continue to be worthwhile, since it still represents an investment in a safe and sound energy future. What’s more, new storage systems like the  groundbreaking S10, distributed by AS Solar, provide users with the possibility of running their own power-management systems. In concrete terms, this means that the owners of an S10 system need virtually no external power supply and instead generate and use their own power. The S10 power plant was developed in Germany and is the first step toward independence from monopolistic utility companies. These systems will breathe life into the German market and will most certainly become global export successes.

Contact

Gerd Pommerien
Managing Director
AS Solar GmbH
 www.as-solar.com

Windreich recently received the award Wind Deal of the Year for the offshore wind park Global Tech I. What went into financing this project?

Four crucial ingredients came together to make the financing of Global Tech 1 possible. We needed to partner with construction companies whose experience
would inspire confidence in our financers, and with partners like Hochtief Solutions AG, this is exactly what happened. Additionally, our three equity partners, the utility companies Stadtwerke Munich, HEAG Südhessische Energie AG and EGL AG, all gave the fi nancing banks good reason to believe that our targets could be reached in time and within budget. The contracts were secured through the dedicated efforts of our in-house experts, and the legal framework that made the entire concept possible in the fi rst place is all thanks to the Renewable Energy Sources Act, which has a perfectly tuned system of feed-in tariffs.

Please elaborate on the logistics involved in building and maintaining an offshore wind farm.

The logistics of building an offshore wind farm are considerable. One key point that no windenergy company can ignore is that of harbors and substations. Wind farms, whether under construction or already constructed, have to be
easily accessible from a harbor and generally from an offshore substation as well. For German wind farms in the North Sea, this often means operating out of German or Dutch harbors, such as Bremerhaven or Nordenham. Offshore substations are necessary to make sure that the wind farms are quickly accessible should something go wrong, such as a system failure, and helicopters need to be on hand in case of rough seas. 

Will the industry successfully meet Germany’s target energy goal of 10 gigawatts from offshore wind generators by 2020?

There are various problems that threaten to get in the way of meeting this goal, including liability and financial issues that the state-owned Dutch
transmission system operator TenneT has been working hard to address. The German government plans to issue a rule on revised regulations that
should ease some of these regulatory burdens. As of today, we have in place more than 5 megawatts of high-voltage directcurrent technology, and there is a good chance that a similar amount can be installed over the next fi ve to seven years. Then again, we cannot forget the 1 gigawatt of power that is being generated in the Baltic Sea, nor new suppliers for wind-turbine generators and other important wind-related technologies. So, the answer is, yes, we can reach the goal of generating 10 gigawatts by 2020. The wind sector is growing very dynamically.

Will it be able to sustain these levels of growth
over the coming decade?

As more big players like Siemens and Alstom identify the huge opportunities afforded by offshore wind and install 6-megawatt prototypes, the market’s resources are going to dramatically increase. Companies like Nordex and Samsung have also announced plans for offshore wind projects. More players provide more competition, which will eventually reduce capital expenditures for offshore wind power and therefore the cost of electricity. The offshore
market has identifi ed the right megawatt targets, so there is a good chance that after the successful installation of the next projects in Germany, offshore wind will see its strong growth rates continue.

Contact

Willi Balz, Chairman of the Board,
Windreich AG
 www.windreich.de

In 2009, McDonald’s Germany opened its first energy-efficient restaurant, EE-Tec, in Achim.

EE-Tec is powered by geothermal, photovoltaic and wind sources and is heated
with solar-thermal technology. By eliminating the use of fossil fuels, the pilot restaurant sets an example of how the food-service sector can make progress in reducing CO2 emissions. EE-Tec’s energy savings on reduced indirect
emissions alone are enough to power almost 100 homes in Germany for a year.

As a side note, McDonald’s plans to source 50% of all its electricity for all restaurant locations in Germany from renewable sources in 2012 and intends to increase this share in the future.

In order to be as environmentally friendly as possible, however, EE-Tec can’t just rely on the use of renewable-energy sources. These efforts need to go hand in hand with the implementation of energy-efficient building technology and kitchen equipment.

Every summer since its opening, EE-Tec has been using evaporative cooling to control room temperature. Each winter, heat recovery measures reduce the amount of energy required for heating. Energy-saving LED lighting and low-oil volume fryers, demand-based ventilation systems and optimized food cooling all lead to significant increases in energy efficiency as well.

The EE-Tec pilot restaurant in Achim is just that: a pilot. It has allowed us
to collect valid data and test results regarding cost and energy efficiency and the viability of various technologies within the context of daily operations. One technology that has proven particularly efficient, for example, is demandbased
ventilation. As a result, it is now being integrated as standard equipment in new or remodeled restaurants.

Other technologies, such as evaporative cooling, are modified on the basis of
data gained at EE-Tec for future rollout at new McDonald’s locations. In addition, training measures for EE-Tec’s staff have shown how energy consumption can be reduced in daily routines. Following these routines is a simple, low-tech and universally applicable method of reducing energy consumption an extra 3% per restaurant on top of all other technology-driven savings.

Reducing energy consumption benefits both the environment and McDonald’s balance sheet. With energy prices continuously rising, we’ve found that our efficiency and renewable-energy measures pay off big time.

Contact

Lynee Walker
SVP Operations and IT
Genworth Financial Europe
www.genworth.de