Dear Madam, Dear Sir,

Thank you for your interest in German renewable energy technologies and welcome to the third edition of the "renewables -  Made in Germany" newsletter in 2011. This service is brought to you by the Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) – the German Energy Agency, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue.

The Renewable Energies Division of dena.

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• 1. Progress report on Renewable Energy Act sets new targets
• 2. Public buildings as role models
• 3. Development boost for storage technologies
• 4. EU-Ministers discuss restructuring of energy supply
• 5. General Assembly adopts IRENA budget
• 6. Designing the zero emission car
• 7. 3rd German-American Energy Conference
• 8. Renewables Academy (RENAC) has launched RE-GridSystem Programme for MENA Region
• 9. dena Subsidy Overview Europe – PV 2011
• 10. "renewables - Made in Germany" - products and services
• 11. The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology takes "renewable energy technologies" abroad
• 12. Service and editorial information

The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety now presented the draft for the progress report 2011 concerning the Renewable Energy Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz). It prepares the amendment to the Renewable Energy Act due in January 2012. The report shows the development of renewable energy sources and recommends steps for a market and grid integration of renewable energy as well as steps for achieving greater flexibility of conventional power stations and of the demand side.

In September 2010 the German Federal Government adopted a comprehensive energy concept. It aims at reducing CO₂ emissions by 40 per cent by 2020 and by as much as 80 per cent by 2050, compared to 1990. To achieve this goal, renewable energies must be expanded continuously. By 2020 their share in gross energy production shall be at least 35 per cent and continue to grow up to an 80 per cent share in 2050. Due to the effective support provided by the Renewable Energy Act, this share had already grown to 16.8 per cent by the end of 2010. The great expansion success in Germany does, however, require an adaptation of the Renewable Energy Act. The Federal Government will design the Act along six strategic lines. First, it will take up the expansion goals mentioned in the energy plan into the Renewable Energy Act as minimum goals, and will continue to expand renewable energy sources. Furthermore, the feed-in priority, a fixed tariff and the obligation of grid operators to connect and expand their grids remain essential elements of the Renewable Energy Act. Cost-efficiency is also increased. The Federal Government will limit any exemption from the levy payable under the Renewable Energy Act to areas where it is objectively necessary. Moreover, the progress report recommends an optimisation of the interaction of conventional and renewable power production. Additionally, the amendment to the Renewable Energy Act will simplify the structure of tariffs in a number of ways.

The amendment of the Renewable Energy Heat Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Wärmegesetz) became effective on 1 May 2011. Thus the German parliament transformed the Renewable Energy Directive of the EU into national law. From now on not only newly built but also existing buildings must use a proportional amount of renewables. This also applies to buildings rented by entities of the public sector. If the use of renewables is not possible due to a lack of supply or because it is economically unreasonable, the lessor must switch to a proportional amount of renewables when the building is thoroughly renovated at a later time. In the framework of its market incentive programme the Federal Ministry for the Environment focuses on funding municipalities which can thus live up to their role model character. Thereby the Ministry contributes to a financial relief for the municipalities.

The German Federal Government has launched the funding initiative “Energy Store”. This cross-departmental initiative is equipped with a funding of 200 million Euros. Hereby, the German Federal Government wants to advance the research and development of new energy storage technologies. The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology stressed the significance of storage systems for a safe, climate-friendly and affordable energy supply. The background to the initiative is the intended expansion of renewables. As a result of this expansion, a significant part of the future power supply will come from regenerative, fluctuating energy sources. The storage shall facilitate the elimination of bottleneck situations in the grid, a better adaptation of the fluctuating feed-in of renewable energy to the time-related demand, and a relief of the grids. This is to be achieved by short-term storage devices with a range of several hours as well as by long-term storage devices lasting weeks and months. The available technologies, however, have either not matured far enough yet or are too expensive. The initiative builds on already existing projects. “The preliminary work is done, research applications can now be prepared”, announced the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. A joint project management makes sure that the funding is used right on target. In terms of content, the initiative covers the entire development of corresponding technologies from basic research all the way to demonstration projects. The details of the initiative will be set out by the German Federal Government in a special announcement.

At the beginning of May the European energy ministers met in the Hungarian town of Gödöllö to discuss the long-term perspectives of European energy policies. The background of this meeting is the energy roadmap of the EU Commission intended to point the way to a safe, affordable, low-emission energy supply by 2050.

The EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger informed the Council of energy ministers about the state of consultations on stress tests for nuclear power stations in Europe. The ministers also discussed the social and economic implications of the energy roadmap. Jochen Homann, State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, pointed out that the social dimensions of restructuring the energy supply must not be overlooked. He stressed that an honest debate on the opportunities and costs of such a restructuring must be held in Europe. Homann said: “The restructuring of energy supply will not come free”.

The external energy relations of the EU were also a subject matter of the meeting. Global competition for energy resources and development of modern energy technologies is in full swing. The ministers agreed that the EU should use its economic and political weight in this field in an effective manner. They said the EU must intensify the dialogue to important producing, transit and consumer countries. The EU Commission announced a statement on its external energy relations for the second half of 2011.

The working programme and the budget for 2011 of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) are a done deal. The first General Assembly of IRENA in Abu Dhabi adopted a budget with an overall volume of 25 million US Dollars for the current year. Furthermore, the Assembly elected Adnan Amin as Secretary General and confirmed Abu Dhabi as headquarters for the Secretariat.

Thus, the foundations for a further rapid build-up of IRENA have been laid. Within two years 149 states and the European Union have signed the statute, 69 states have ratified it so far. The German Federal Ministry for the Environment announced that Germany will give more than three million US Dollars to support the IRENA Innovation Centre in Bonn.

The focus of the future work of IRENA will lie on offering consultations to its member states. Their task is to create the right framework conditions, to build up competence as well as to improve funding and transfer of knowledge with respect to renewable energy sources.

“Renewably Mobile” is the motto of a funding programme launched by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment. The programme aims at creating marketable electric cars as soon as possible. The link between electric mobility and power generation from renewables is of major importance here. Only power from renewable energy sources will make an electric car a zero emission vehicle. With the support of intelligently chargeable electric cars, the integration of power from solar and wind power stations into the power grid will be easier. Further projects deal, for instance, with battery technology and range increase. All in all, the programme of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment allocates more than 100 million Euros to support 70 innovation partners.

The German-American Energy Conference took place for the third time in the House of German Business in Berlin on May 12 and 13 under the headline “Global Energy Challenges – Transatlantic Business Opportunities”. This years´ German-American Energy Conference showed again that German companies have a good starting position on the lucrative US market for renewable energy. Around 300 German and US participants learned about current trends and funding schemes on the US energy market and resulting opportunities for their companies.

Supported by the International Climate Initiative (ICI), the Renewables Academy AG (RENAC) was commissioned by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) to provide a three year capacity building programme for grid integration of renewable energies. The RE-GridSystem project will demonstrate how a high amount of renewable energy (wind energy, grid connected photovoltaic and concentrating solar power) can be safely integrated into the electricity supply in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria and which steps are essential for the implementation.

Additionally to this programme the RENAC will organize an information trip in Germany about wind and solar energy in Morocco from June 14 to June 17, 2011.

Further information: http://www.exportinitiative.bmwi.de/EEE/Navigation/veranstaltungen,did=382788.html

The dena Subsidy Overview Europe Photovoltaic provides information on existing subsidy programmes for the use of photovoltaic in the EU Member States. The information includes valuable details about the structuring possibilities and the current legal framework of the photovoltaic markets. A new issue will be published in June 2011.

Further information: http://www.dena.de/en/topics/renewable-energies/publications/publikation/eu-27-photovoltaic/

German renewable energy technologies have an excellent reputation both at home and abroad. Many years of experience and countless references around the world make "renewables - Made in Germany" a reliable source to meet your project needs. The website www.renewables-made-in-germany.com provides information about German renewable energy industries, companies and products.

Get in touch - "renewables- Made in Germany" business trips

Are you looking for contacts with experienced German companies in the renewable energy sector, or more information about renewable energy technology from Germany? If so, the German Chamber of Commerce (AHK) in your country may be able to help. As part of the "renewables - Made in Germany" programme, delegations of German business representatives from the renewable energy sector travel to all parts of the world to showcase their expertise and products and to explore possibilities for future cooperation.

Each event includes a one-day seminar where you receive information about current developments in renewable energy technology and the products of the German companies that are represented. If you would like to get in touch with individual companies, the German Chamber of Commerce Abroad in your country has the ability to act as a liaison.

The following table shows all the dates and countries that are part of the trade mission for the next months. If you are interested in attending one of these events or require more information, please contact the relevant German Chamber of Commerce Abroad: www.ahk.de

For more information please contact: renewables@dena.de

Target Market	Period	Technology
USA (Housten)	2011-06-28 till 2011-07-01	wind energy
USA (Denver)	2011-06-28 till 2011-07-01	photovoltaics, solar termal energy
Uganda	2011-09-19 till 2011-09-24	solar energy
Mexico	2011-09-19 till 2011-09-23	solar energy
Turkey	2011-09-27 till 2011-09-30	bioenergy
UAE	2011-10-10 till 2011-10-13	solar energy
USA (Atlantic City)	2011-10-17 till 2011-10-20	wind energy
Morroco	2011-10-17 till 2011-10-21	wind energy
Netherlands	2011-10-18 till 2011-10-20	wind energy
USA (Madison)	2011-10-24 till 2011-10-28	bioenergy
Portugal	2011-10-25 till 2011-10-27	solar energy
Chile	2011-10-25 till 2011-10-28	wind energy

Another opportunity to make contact with German companies in the renewable energy technology sector is to participate at the trade fairs attended by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. Visit the German community booth to speak directly with German companies and receive information about the latest technologies!

Date	Location	Fair
2011-06-01-2011-06-04	Bangkok	Renewable Energy Asia 2011
2011-07-12-2011-07-14	San Francisco	Intersolar North America 2011
2011-09-27-2011-09-29	Mexico City	The GREEN EXPO 2011
2011-09-28-2011-09-30	Manila	PowerTrends 2011
2011-10-17-2011-10-21	Dallas	Solar Power International 2011
2011-11-15-2011-11-17	Tel Aviv	WATEC Israel 2011

Thank you for subscribing to the "renewables - Made in Germany" newsletter.

For more information about German technologies and manufacturers in the renewable energy industry, see our website www.renewables-made-in-germany.com.

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