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German Business Looks to Renew Iran Contacts

German businesses are cooling on Russian investments amid anger over Russia’s role in the Ukrainian conflict while simultaneously warming on another big country hit by Western sanctions: Iran. Companies across Germany have quietly rekindled once-strong commercial ties with Iran, industry officials said. The shift, also occurring in other European countries, is possible because Western governments—working to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons—in November granted it some relief from sanctions. Talks on a broader deal continue, sparking hope among some businesses that Iran’s market of 77 million potential consumers could soon open to them. "The market will explode when the embargo gets lifted," predicted Stephanie Spinner-König, managing director of high-tech component maker Spinner GmbH and a participant in one of two German business delegations that visited Iran this year. While German companies see opportunities in Iran, few want to discuss it publicly. Many fear talking up the pariah country could […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Germany’s Backing of Russia Sanctions Marks Breach in Pivotal European Relationship

Russian President Vladimir Putin led a cabinet meeting at his residence outside Moscow on Wednesday. Alexei Nikolsky/Press Pool Three days after the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin for at least the 30th time since the Ukraine crisis erupted. She had a blunt message, according to people briefed on the phone conversation: Call me if you have progress to report in defusing the conflict. That was July 20. The two leaders haven’t spoken since. The silence marks a breach in perhaps the most important relationship in European geopolitics, illustrating the daunting challenges facing the West in trying to calm the crisis in Ukraine. More broadly, the frayed relationship between Ms. Merkel and Mr. Putin shows the disintegration of a decadeslong effort by both Germany and Russia to bind the World War II adversaries to each other. Mr. Putin, in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Germany's Backing of Russia Sanctions Marks Breach in Pivotal European Relationship

Russian President Vladimir Putin led a cabinet meeting at his residence outside Moscow on Wednesday. Alexei Nikolsky/Press Pool Three days after the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin for at least the 30th time since the Ukraine crisis erupted. She had a blunt message, according to people briefed on the phone conversation: Call me if you have progress to report in defusing the conflict. That was July 20. The two leaders haven’t spoken since. The silence marks a breach in perhaps the most important relationship in European geopolitics, illustrating the daunting challenges facing the West in trying to calm the crisis in Ukraine. More broadly, the frayed relationship between Ms. Merkel and Mr. Putin shows the disintegration of a decadeslong effort by both Germany and Russia to bind the World War II adversaries to each other. Mr. Putin, in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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German Utilities Bail Out Electric Grid at Wind’s Mercy

Germany ’s push toward renewable energy is causing so many drops and surges from wind and solar power that the government is paying more utilities than ever to help stabilize the country’s electricity grid. Twenty power companies including Germany’s biggest utilities, EON SE and RWE AG, now get fees for pledging to add or cut electricity within seconds to keep the power system stable, double the number in September, according to data from the nation’s four grid operators. Utilities that sign up to the 800 million-euro ($1.1 billion) balancing market can be paid as much as 400 times wholesale electricity prices, the data show. Germany’s drive to almost double power output from renewables by 2035 has seen one operator reporting five times as many potential disruptions as four years ago, raising the risk of blackouts in Europe ’s biggest electricity market while pushing wholesale prices to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EU Confirms Approval of Germany’s New Renewable Energy Law

Wind turbines in Altentreptow, Germany. Bloomberg News BRUSSELS—European Union antitrust authorities confirmed Wednesday their approval of Germany’s new renewable energy law, which aims to help the country shift away from nuclear- and fossil fuel-generated power. Earlier this month, the European Commission said it had given backing to the plans after Berlin agreed to make some amendments to the law. The new law "paves the way for more market integration of renewables," Joaquín Almunia, the European Union’s antitrust commissioner, said in a news release. "In the medium term, this should lead to lower costs for consumers. Also the progressive opening up of tenders to operators located in other member states is a very positive development for the internal energy market." The EU had concerns that some German firms producing renewable energy may have benefited unfairly from subsidies in the past. It also said a surcharge imposed on imported electricity equated […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EU Confirms Approval of Germany's New Renewable Energy Law

Wind turbines in Altentreptow, Germany. Bloomberg News BRUSSELS—European Union antitrust authorities confirmed Wednesday their approval of Germany’s new renewable energy law, which aims to help the country shift away from nuclear- and fossil fuel-generated power. Earlier this month, the European Commission said it had given backing to the plans after Berlin agreed to make some amendments to the law. The new law "paves the way for more market integration of renewables," Joaquín Almunia, the European Union’s antitrust commissioner, said in a news release. "In the medium term, this should lead to lower costs for consumers. Also the progressive opening up of tenders to operators located in other member states is a very positive development for the internal energy market." The EU had concerns that some German firms producing renewable energy may have benefited unfairly from subsidies in the past. It also said a surcharge imposed on imported electricity equated […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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RWE to Supply Natural Gas to Ukraine

German utility AG said Tuesday it has formally agreed to supply Ukraine with natural gas this year, the first such deal by a European energy company after Ukraine’s continuing political crisis put the country’s traditional supplies from Russia in doubt. RWE said that it would begin gas deliveries to Ukraine’s state-owned energy company Naftogaz via Poland immediately. RWE said it would ship gas from its "pan-European portfolio" to Ukraine, but didn’t provide an estimate of the expected volumes. The deliveries are part of an existing five-year framework deal that allows RWE to ship up 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year to Ukraine, but the gas supplies must be agreed on annually. Last year, RWE supplied around 1 BCM of gas to Ukraine, it said. The gas will be delivered at wholesale price levels, including delivery costs, RWE said. Russian gas-export monopoly Gazprom OAO earlier this month […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Germany Amends Green-Energy Regime to Curb Rise in Prices

The German government has amended renewable-energy laws meant to help make the country nuclear-free but that have sent power prices rocketing—squeezing consumers and the country’s formidable export machine. The cabinet approved amendments on Tuesday that it said would contain soaring electricity costs while seeking to protect German jobs in the industrial sector. The changes include less ambitious targets for wind power and a cut in subsidies for certain forms of green energy. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s "energy transformation," a bold and initially popular experiment to make Germany the first major industrial economy to run largely on green energy, has met strong resistance from companies and households faced with steep rises in power costs. The project revolves around subsidies that are financed by end users via a levy and meant to encourage a buildup in renewable energy capacity. Overall, the government expects such subsidies to reach €24 billion ($33 billion) this […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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German Minister Sees ‘No Sensible Alternative’ to Russian Gas

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said there was "no sensible alternative" to Russian natural gas imports and it was unlikely Russia would stop deliveries because of the crisis over Ukraine, a German daily reported Friday. "Even in the darkest hours of the Cold War, Russia respected its contracts," the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung reported Gabriel, who is also energy minister and vice chancellor, as telling an energy forum. Europe’s biggest economy is heavily reliant on Russian gas, which accounted for about a third of its gas imports last year, BDEW figures show. Germany’s top utilities E.ON and RWE receive most of their gas from Russia’s state-controlled gas producer Gazprom. Russia’s seizure of the Crimea region and its threat to cut off gas to Ukraine, a transit route to the rest of Europe, has prompted European leaders to consider strategies to curb the bloc’s energy reliance on Russia. Gabriel also said that two current business deals with Russia by German companies BASF and RWE were "company decisions" and "essentially unproblematic," according to the newspaper. The newspaper said Gabriel also told the forum that Europe’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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German Minister Sees 'No Sensible Alternative' to Russian Gas

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said there was "no sensible alternative" to Russian natural gas imports and it was unlikely Russia would stop deliveries because of the crisis over Ukraine, a German daily reported Friday. "Even in the darkest hours of the Cold War, Russia respected its contracts," the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung reported Gabriel, who is also energy minister and vice chancellor, as telling an energy forum. Europe’s biggest economy is heavily reliant on Russian gas, which accounted for about a third of its gas imports last year, BDEW figures show. Germany’s top utilities E.ON and RWE receive most of their gas from Russia’s state-controlled gas producer Gazprom. Russia’s seizure of the Crimea region and its threat to cut off gas to Ukraine, a transit route to the rest of Europe, has prompted European leaders to consider strategies to curb the bloc’s energy reliance on Russia. Gabriel also said that two current business deals with Russia by German companies BASF and RWE were "company decisions" and "essentially unproblematic," according to the newspaper. The newspaper said Gabriel also told the forum that Europe’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple