On the eve of the biggest global “Fridays for Future” youth strike for climate, the World Future Council offers its strong support to the dedicated young people holding leaders accountable for their climate commitments. If we are to meet the 1.5°C target of the Paris agreement bold action needs to happen now.
Hamburg/Katowice, 10 December 2018 – The 24th UN Climate Conference (COP24) is underway in Katowice, Poland (2-14 December). After countless unusual weather events have wreaked havoc all over the globe this year, this round of climate change negotiations comes at a critical time. Implementing far-reaching changes to our societies to cut carbon and phase-out fossil fuels has become inevitable. Against this backdrop, the Global Renewables Congress (GRC) will be launched on December 11 on the sidelines of COP24. The GRC is a new cross-country, cross-party platform for ongoing dialogue between and with legislators for the rapid and large-scale deployment of renewable energy solutions. Current and former legislators from national and regional parliaments can become members of the GRC. The GRC is chaired by Bärbel Höhn, former MP of the German Bundestag and acting Commissioner for Energy Reform in Africa for the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.
“Only a swift transition to renewable energies can halt climate crisis and save us from its devastating impacts”, states Bärbel Höhn. “We must deliver renewables at scale. In order to stand a chance of avoiding the catastrophic consequences of climate crisis, renewable energy solutions need to be deployed more widely and rapidly than ever before. The GRC has great potential to advance them on a global level.”
Co-Chairs are appointed representing each of the major regions of the world. The World Future Council provides the secretariat of the GRC.
“A series of recent reports, including the IPCC 1.5 Special Report, makes it clear that we are nowhere near on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement”, argues Rob van Riet, Director of the Climate Energy Programme at the World Future Council. “The good news is that a clean energy transition is technologically feasible, and that it can act as a catalyst for achieving the Agenda 2030; the bad news is that political will still falters and vested interests resist this transformation of our energy system. The GRC aims for the rapid and large-scale deployment of renewables and I am optimistic it will bring decision-makers together to create the synergies needed for this process.”
The GRC is made possible through the support of the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt/DBU) and the Stiftung Mercator. Additional support for this project was made available by Mr. Amir Roughani, Ambassador for the World Future Council.
www.renewablescongress.org
Anna Skowron
Project Manager Climate & Energy, World Future Council
anna.skowron@worldfuturecouncil.org
Miriam Petersen
Media & Communications Manager
World Future Council
miriam.petersen@worldfuturecouncil.org
+49 (0) 40 3070914-19
The World Future Council (WFC) works to pass on a healthy planet and fair societies to our children and grandchildren. To achieve this, we focus on identifying and spreading effective, future-just policy solutions and promote their implementation worldwide. Jakob von Uexkull, the Founder of the Alternative Nobel Prize, launched the World Future Council in 2007. We are an independent, non-profit organisation under German law and finance our activities from donations. For information visit www.worldfuturecouncil.org
The energy transition can only succeed if energy supply is democratised. We talked to Uli Ahlke, head of the district office for climate protection and sustainability in Steinfurt (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany), about success factors of community energy.
Citizens contribute significantly to the energy transition. Including farmers, individuals own about 42% of all renewable energy installations in Germany[2]. Unfortunately though, the German federal government does not support community energy sufficiently. At this point, local governments can make a decisive contribution to promoting community energy. The German District of Steinfurt, near the Dutch border, is setting an exemplary path. Its 24 municipalities with about 445,000 inhabitants aim to be energy self-sufficient through renewable energies by 2050 – with the greatest possible participation of the local population. Already today more than 60% of the electricity stems from renewables. We talked to Uli Ahlke, head of the district office for climate protection and sustainability, about strategies and possibilities for local authorities to support community energy, about dealing with national obstacles, and about the future of the energy transition.
Community Energy: Energy Transition
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Coalition for Action describes community energy as “the economic and operational participation and/or ownership by citizens or members of a defined community in a renewable energy project” – regardless of size and scope of the project.[1] Community energy is any combination of at least two of the following elements: Local stakeholders own more than half or all shares of a renewable energy project; voting control rests with a community-based organisation; and the majority of social and economic benefits are decentralised locally.
Engagement for community energy: Uli Ahlke is head of the district office for climate protection and sustainability in Steinfurt (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)
World Future Council: The district of Steinfurt aims to be energy self-sufficient through renewable energies by 2050. Supporting community energy is an integral part of your work. Why did you choose to support community energy to promote the expansion of renewables rather than focusing on large-scale investments?
Uli Ahlke: We have conducted several surveys in our region, and we know that the balance sheet energy self-sufficiency can only be accomplished once we operate in a regionally decentralised manner – and that it won’t work without the citizens. About 18 years ago, we experienced a very intensive expansion of wind energy with a lot of foreign investors in our region. At that time, we quickly reached acceptance limits.
We are convinced that we cannot achieve our ambitious goals without wind energy. That is why we asked ourselves what we need to do to maintain acceptance for a new expansion momentum. We needed to involve people in the planning process and to give the local community the opportunity to participate in local value creation. After all, the district of Steinfurt spends 1.5 billion euros a year on energy – for electricity, heat and mobility energy. Money we want to keep in the region.
How exactly can community energy be integrated into local climate action planning, and which participation mechanisms were particularly effective in Steinfurt?
What we do here is only possible because we have this team. We are 22 employees who take charge of the region’s sustainable development, of rural development, climate protection and education for sustainable development. Structurally, we consolidated the whole procedure last year and founded an association – the “energieland2050”. We communicate through traditional media, but are increasingly active in social media; we organise broad-scale participation proceedings; we place a strong focus on the regional advantages; and we have many amplifiers, especially on the part of the wind farmers.
As part of the wind energy expansion, we have set guidelines for all upcoming civic wind farms – in cooperation with the property owners, i.e. the farmers, with the farmers’ association, the municipal utilities and our 24 mayors. These guidelines not only guarantee the involvement of citizens, but also ensure that the first focal point for loans are local banks, and for energy marketing the municipal utilities. For the recruitment of financial resources through public participation we organised three events for one wind farm alone, attended by around 900 people. Two weeks later, we had 30 million euros, although we only needed 15.
In 2011, we set up a “Wind Energy Service Station”. There, we have a colleague, who deals with conflict management. She talks to the people and seeks solutions with them whenever there is a problem. We also launched a “Wind Energy Round Table”, where we regularly invite all stakeholders involved in wind energy to address conflicts openly and transparently.
Round table discussions for solving conflicts
But wind energy is just one piece of the puzzle. Our goal is to initiate climate action in the region, involving more and more people. Many people trust us; that we practice what we preach, that we do things well, and that we act in accordance with the Agenda 21[3]. But that did not come out of the blue – it emerged over the years, during which people got to know each other, and learned to trust each other. I also believe that sustainability and regionalism are closely interlinked because we give up anonymity and work with people we know.
I agree with you. How do you deal with national legal and regulatory obstacles to citizen-owned renewable energy installations at the local level, such as the 2017 Renewable Energies Act (EEG) Amendment[4]?
I believe that the energy transition can only succeed if there is – in Hermann Scheer’s words – the “democratisation of energy supply”. The 2017 EEG Amendment, however, weakened the community energy movement. The reason for this weakening is presumably an energy policy that is geared towards corporations. But we need a policy that is citizen-oriented. The corporation-oriented policy actually prevents a successful energy transition. I am following Berlin’s energy policy with concern. If we do not change course very quickly, we will certainly miss the 2-degree target.
The approach we chose in Steinfurt is characterised by our energetic imperative “regional – decentralised – CO2-neutral”. This is supported and accompanied by the “energieland2050 network of entrepreneurs”. Only responsible companies from the region are involved in this network.
A study by the Leuphana University of Lüneburg has shown that the main obstacle to initiate community energy projects are the availability of equity capital and access to vacant space for renewable energy installations like wind turbines. How can local authorities help in these areas?
At the beginning, we conducted a study to identify our potentials for the wind energy expansion. We must not forget that our region is not particularly suitable for wind energy; we are not a coastal region and are partially suburbanised. On the basis of the potential study, we developed the guidelines for civic wind energy together with the farmers’ association, the mayors and many other stakeholders. This accelerated the expansion of wind energy. We implemented the wind energy expansion with regional stakeholders and did not rely on any external project planner or consultant. The expansion was also largely financed from the region – from its citizens, and its local banks. This is a relatively unique approach in Germany.
Construction of the bioenergy park Saerbeck
When we started to address wind energy with some actors in 2010 and even approached it strategically, people were very sceptical. And today I look back very relaxed and say: It worked!
I am glad to hear that. Let us now come to the last question. You have been working with passion for many years in this area. Which advice can you give to people in local governments not to lose patience and confidence in their work for renewables and citizen participation?
What you need is perseverance, patience and the faculty of abstraction. Human beings are often too impatient and cannot imagine the world changing but it is changing faster than ever. I think that in order to win people it is not enough to have good arguments, but it is important to draw a picture, a future scenario, of where you want to go and how positive the future can look like. At the end of my speeches, I often show a picture of the district of Steinfurt, which says: “District of Steinfurt – 24 health resorts”. If the energy transition succeeds, we will breathe clean air and it will be quieter. So if it succeeds, and I suppose that it does succeed at least partially, then life becomes more enjoyable and we get out of the air pollution dilemma which we are in now.
Interview conducted by Nele Kress.
[1] IRENA Coalition for Action (2018). Community Energy. Broadening the Ownership of Renewables. https://bit.ly/2MCevv9 (28.08.2018).
[2] Agentur für Erneuerbare Energien (2018). Bürgerenergie bleibt Schlüssel für erfolgreiche Energiewende. https://bit.ly/2nztV4q (28.08.2018).
[3] Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organisations of the United Nations system, governments, and major groups in every area in which human beings impact on the environment. It was adopted by 172 governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
[4] The Renewable Energies Act (EEG), which came into force for the first time in 2000, is the central control instrument for the expansion of renewable energies in the field of electricity in Germany. The fundamental changes of the last major amendment to the EEG in 2017 relate to compulsory direct marketing and a fundamental system change from the feed-in tariff model to the tendering procedure. This model has been criticized for failing to meet the climate protection goals of the Paris Agreement and for discriminating against community energy projects.
Every year India struggles with natural conditions of drifting dust from the desert Thar[1] which are aggravated by human impact[2] and lead to environmentally, socially and economically costly air pollution. With the enabling policy framework, a proven technology could be part of a feasible scheme tackling all anthropogenic drivers at once – and ideally lead to a reduction of air pollution by up to 90%.
Starting a few months ago, India’s North has made headlines when air pollution reached an air quality index (AQI) of 1,001[3] – exceeding safe levels by a multitude of ten. In the national Capital Region of Delhi alone 45 million people[4] have been affected, causing a spike in complaints of respiratory problems and an emergency state, declared by the Indian Medical Association.[5]
Even though the news around the topic subsided, the officially monitored AQI which are even higher in the proximity of roads[6] within major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, continue to range around hazardous levels[7]. Inhalation of this air is comparable to smoking several packs of cigarettes a day[8] [9] and serious respiratory effects in the general population can be expected while even putting susceptible groups at risk of premature death[10].
Figure 1: Haze over North India in late 2017. (Source: NASA, 2017)
The death toll of air pollution in India was the highest of all countries around the world with 2,5 million in 2015.[11] A global UNICEF study found recently, that over 90% of children are breathing polluted air not matching WHO guidelines and 17 million infants are exposed to levels six times the approved norms.[12] Furthermore, household air pollution was recently discovered to be insalubrious even before birth, reducing birth weight, pregnancy duration and doubling perinatal mortality[13]. This effect is owed to the burning of traditional fuels which exposes mostly women to pulmonary and vision hazards of indoor air pollution.[14]
A study conducted by the World Bank concluded: The negative health impact of outdoor air pollution alone costs India 3% of its GDP[15] which translates to an equivalent loss of roughly 35 billion Euros every year. Research found a direct impact of the atmospheric pollution on agriculture with wheat yields of 2010 being on average up to 36% lower than usual all over India due to reduced intensity of sunlight and toxic ozone reaching the plants.[16] Additionally, increased amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere[17] contribute to the greenhouse effect leading to more extreme and destructive weather events.
Two main causes for a myriad of manmade emission sources
In agricultural areas such as Punjab, the breadbasket of India, which singlehandedly produces 20% of India’s wheat and 10% of its rice[18], smoke blankets rise seasonally for several weeks despite a governmental ban when leftover straw stubble from mechanical harvesting is burned openly in the fields to clean the soil for new seeding [19] (see fig. 2).
Large-scale crop burning in India in 2017. (Source: Propakistani, 2016)
Then, metropolitan areas are covered by the drifting haze of crop burning in addition to the smoke of millions of wood cook stoves in and outside of the urban areas as well as countless emitters of sulfates, nitrates and black carbon such as automobiles, coal-fired power plants, incinerators, smelters or brick kilns.[20]
A comparison of several studies of Delhi shows the difficulty of solving the problem due to the relatively equal share of the main human-made sources of urban air pollution: Open burning of garbage and other diffused emitters contribute on average about a quarter, domestic or biomass burning as well as dust ranges around 15% while both traffic and industry (including coal power plants) are responsible for approximately one third.[21] [22]
However, understanding the reasons of air pollution, the interconnectedness of land and city and the amplification of fog and aerosol hazes[23] permits a vision for a future of clear skies and fresh breath. The main detrimental causes showed to be unsolvable if tackled one by one which is demonstrated by governmental emergency measures falling short every year.
Multiplying the negative causes turns into a feasible opportunity
The usually unused agricultural leftover biomass like paddy straw suddenly becomes an additional source of income for farmers as it already begins to prove itself as a viable source for power generation in rural India, offering employment for thousands of people. The calorific value per kilogram of coal and paddy straw are comparable while it burns cleanly in boilers with an efficiency as high as 99%. Combustion technology is commercialized and alone in the state of Punjab 332.5 MW of agro-waste based power projects are planned.[24]
These power plants can sell their power due to the “New & Renewable Sources of Energy Policy” and generate income under a Clean Development Mechanism while suppling millions of kWh to the grid for years. [25] Even individual households value the significant financial benefit of a carbon credit scheme which earns them up to 500 Rupees per month in a pilot project and convinces them to maintain the use of improved cook stoves.[26]
There are numerous reasons aside from health benefits for extending the understanding of sustainable cooking beyond improved cook stoves[27]. A new one is provided by a recent study, that noted villagers truly wish for cooking like in the cities – preferably with LPG which is out of reach for many due to its higher costs compared to wood.[28] The so-called producer gas of low-cost straw-based power plants is an ideal replacement of a cleanly burning fuel, reducing indoor air pollution significantly in poor or disconnected rural and urban households alike.
Moreover, the processing of biomass and organic waste opens the opportunity of bio-oil production which can be handled exactly like a petroleum-based product to power suited diesel generators and fuel traffic in the cities.[29] This not only reduces transport emissions greatly but adds value to the commonly high share of organic waste (~30%) in Indian cities[30], attracting the informal sector in waste collection and reducing open garbage burning.
If now the government would take a leap forward by providing legislative support for this scheme in a holistic framework and additionally phase out coal power plants, manmade air pollution could ideally be reduced by roughly up to 90% through counteracting the aforementioned emission sources. In addition to environmental and social health improvements, the positive economic impact would be substantial: An IRENA study estimated a total benefit of 59 to 224 billion USD in savings following a restructuring of the power sector.[31] India’s INDC target of 40% renewable energy in 2030 is a promising step into the right direction.[32]
– written by Lisa Harseim –
[1] https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84731
[2] http://www.urbanemissions.info/wp-content/uploads/images/PMSA-Delhi-UEinfo-2013-Study.png
[3] https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=91240
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/asia/delhi-pollution-gas-chamber.html?mc=adintl&mcid=facebook&mccr=edit&ad-keywords=GlobalTruth
[5] https://www.visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=86982
[6] http://www.dw.com/en/study-offers-new-insight-into-new-delhis-air-pollution-woes/a-18105674
[7] http://clonewdelhi.com/custom/AQI/missionindiaaqi.php#
[8] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/asia/delhi-pollution-gas-chamber.html?mc=adintl&mcid=facebook&mccr=edit&ad-keywords=GlobalTruth
[9] http://www.theweek.in/columns/shashi-tharoor/dont-hold-your-breath.html
[10] https://www.visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=86982
[11] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/asia/delhi-pollution-gas-chamber.html?mc=adintl&mcid=facebook&mccr=edit&ad-keywords=GlobalTruth
[12] http://cleancookstoves.org/about/news/01-04-2018-new-study-shows-clean-cooking-can-lead-to-increased-birth-weight-in-newborns.html
[13] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412017312448
[14] https://www.solarquarter.com/index.php/resources/83-industry-reports/6245-remap-renewable-energy-prospects-for-india
[15] http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/07/17/india-green-growth-necessary-and-affordable-for-india-says-new-world-bank-report
[16] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4246269/
[17] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-81-322-2014-5_4#page-1
[18] https://www.visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=86982
[19] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-5055737/Crop-burning-ban-goes-flames-Punjab-Haryana.html
[20] https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84731
[21] http://www.dw.com/en/study-offers-new-insight-into-new-delhis-air-pollution-woes/a-18105674
[22] www.urbanemissions.info
[23] https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84731
[24] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-81-322-2014-5_4#page-1
[25] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-81-322-2014-5_4#page-1
[26]https://www.povertyactionlab.org/sites/default/files/India_%20Cooking%20up%20a%20recipe%20for%20clean%20air%20%281%29.pdf
[27] https://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/file/2016/10/WFC_BeyondFire_web-version.pdf
[28] https://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluation/cooking-stoves-indoor-air-pollution-and-respiratory-health-india
[29] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-81-322-2014-5_4#page-1
[30] http://www.academia.edu/6034600/State_of_municipal_solid_waste_management_in_Delhi_the_capital_of_India
[31] http://www.irena.org/publications/2017/May/Renewable-Energy-Prospects-for-India
[32] http://www.ren21.net/gsr-2017/pages/tables/tables/#table-R15
The World Future Council, Bread for the World and CAN-Tanzania hosted a workshop in February Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to kick-off an 18-months project, aiming at exploring the feasibility of 100% RE targets and its implications for Tanzania’s Sustainable Low Carbon Development and Poverty Reduction Goals.
At the COP 21 in Paris, the international community agreed on an agenda to cut greenhouse gas emissions to a level that will limit the rise in average global temperatures to 1.5°C. On 5 October 2016, the threshold for entry into force of the Paris Agreement was achieved. For a likely chance to stay below a rise of 1.5C, we have to reach zero emissions by 2050.
On September 22 2013, 50.9% of the Hamburg citizens voted in a referendum for the full remunicipalisation of the energy distribution grids in the city. The referendum was initiated by the citizen’s initiative ‘Our Hamburg – Our Grid’ (OHOG) and constituted the climax of an intense political controversy that lasted for more than three years. Through this vote Hamburg has received international attention and became a flagship example for remarkable civil engagement. In the international best-seller “This Changes Everything” (2014), Naomi Klein sees the driving motive in the people’s ‘desire for local power’. Indeed it is true that under the constitution of the City of Hamburg, a successful referendum has a binding effect, which left the City government no other option than to announce the implementation of the referendum decision and to start the remunicipalisation process immediately after the vote. Now, three years after the referendum, it is time to evaluate what has been achieved so far. A series of interviews with key actors that were and, for the most part, still are involved in the remunicipalisation process shed some light on the remunicipalisation process and recent developments.
„The first E-Mail came from you“, they say about Gilbert Siegler, who started the gathering of a broad spectrum of environmental, civil and church organisations back in 2010 that would later become the citizens’ initiative “Our Hamburg – Our Grid” (OHOG). For many of the activists, such as the leading campaigner of the initiative, Wiebke Hansen, the remunicipalisation question quickly became a “matter of the heart” and proxy to tackle climate change effectively by directly achieving access to the energy sector, putting the issue into the overall context of intergenerational justice.
Privatisation of the energy grids was a decision that according to the current Senator for Environment and Energy, Jens Kerstan, had soon been severely regretted by many members across all parties and led to a “loss in political influence and the possibility to steer” within the energy sector.
The momentum was opportune. The anti-nuclear movement had just achieved a great success, mobilising 120 000 people protesting against the plans of the Federal Government to prolong the runtime of the German nuclear power plants, with the formation of a 120km long human chain between the two nuclear power plants Brunsbüttel and Krümmel. The chain also queued through the inner City of Hamburg, this event and the upcoming expiry of the concession agreements provided a fertile ground for the activists in the city to merge into the initiative that would three years later achieve the great success of winning the referendum on the remunicipalisation of the energy distribution grid.
At the end of the 1990s and beginning of the 20th century, the City of Hamburg privatised its energy distribution grids of electricity, gas and district heating – a decision that according to the current Senator for Environment and Energy, Jens Kerstan, had soon been severely regretted by many members across all parties and led to a “loss in political influence and the possibility to steer” within the energy sector.
However, despite this realisation the Senate led by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) under First Mayor Olaf Schloz were merely willing to buy back a blocking minority of 25.1% from the private energy utilities E.ON and Vattenfall owning the energy distribution grids in 2011. While Olaf Scholz and the City Government believed that this deal would allow sufficient control over the private network operators, OHOG, energy experts and even SPD members were not convinced that 25.1% are enough to achieve a proactive and progressive energy policy for Hamburg, including a decisive implementation of the Energiewende and an active engagement in climate mitigation by shifting towards renewable energies.
Instead the citizens’ initiative’s referendum text stipulated a more ambitious goal, which is separated below into the two core targets:
“The Hamburg Senate and City Parliament are undertaking all necessary and legitimate steps in a timely manner, in order to
At the beginning, the citizens’ initiative received broad approval in their intention to bring the energy distribution grids back into the public hand. One reason of OHOG’s success certainly was its heterogeneous composition that reflected society at large. Another was the initiative’s unifying assumption, which was also most tangible to the majority of Hamburg’s citizens despite the complexity of the topic: energy services are a matter of the common good and must not become object to the maxim of profit maximisation.
Yet, until the Election Day the outcome of the referendum was uncertain mainly due to the massive opposition forming up against OHOG, led by the political parties of SPD, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Liberal Party (FDP) and numerous organisations of trade and industry, such as the Chamber of Commerce, and of course the energy utilities Vattenfall and E.ON themselves. This led to a clear asymmetry in power and resources between the Yes and No campaign in the run up to the referendum. Manfred Braasch, managing director of Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND) in Hamburg and one of the leading lights of OHOG estimates the ratio of available resources with 1:100: “So we had one Euro and they at least a hundred to place respective ads, print material, etc.” Another former member of OHOG, Dirk Seifert, illustratively recollects that each member of the citizens’ initiative was becoming “increasingly nervous […], since you walk through Hamburg and see with what public advertising force these companies [Vattenfall and E.ON] can cover the whole city […]. The evening the votes were counted was nerve-racking […] but in the end we could relax and had won.”
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Target 1) was tackled directly after the referendum decision. Representatives of the City Government immediately started to negotiate the re-purchase conditions of the energy distribution networks with the suppliers Vattenfall and E.ON.
In February 2014, Vattenfall and the City of Hamburg reached an agreement over the purchase of the 27,000 kilometre long electricity distribution grid for the total price of 550 million Euros. The transition from shifting Vattenfall shares into municipal ownership was eventually completed in April 2016 by maintaining the entire workforce. This also proofed the concerns of the workers union IG Metall before the referendum as groundless. The IG Metall, according to its First Representative Ina Morgenroth, positioned itself against the remunicipalisation as pursued by OHOG, expecting political commitments to not put employment at stake that nobody could give. In the first year, the electricity grid operation generated a total benefit of 34.5 million Euros for the city. Essential restructuring and investments let the benefits sink towards around 6 million Euros in 2015. In this context, the numbers of 2016 can be awaited eagerly to allow a more accurate assessment whether the remunicipalisation of the electricity grid also generates the expected monetary benefits for Hamburg. The negotiations over the gas distribution grid between E.ON and the City of Hamburg dragged on until December 2014. Eventually, both parties came to an agreement that would allow the city a repurchase of the gas grids in 2018 for a total price of 355.4 million Euros.
In general, the constitution of this new instrument for democratic control of the energy distribution grid is seen as an unprecedented innovation, giving Hamburg a unique opportunity to make questions of energy policy subject to a wide-ranging debate throughout society.
What remains uncertain is the remunicipalisation of the district heating distribution network that provides about 440.000 residential units with heat and is the most energy intensive and valuable energy distribution grid. Similar to the gas distribution grid, the City Government merely negotiated a purchase option for the year 2019 with Vattenfall. Due to the constitutional level of a referendum decision its implementation should merely be a matter of political decency. However, there are uncertainties regarding a repurchase of district heating, since members of Hamburg’s political sphere are already looking for a way out to avoid the expensive repurchase of the district heating grid for a fixed minimum purchase price of 950 million Euro, arguing that such a financial risk is incompatible with the budgetary regulations of the Hamburg City State. Yet, the former members of the initiative OHOG remain confident that a remunicipalisation will eventually be carried out by the City Government, since the political risk of defying the people’s decision is too high. Furthermore, essential practicalities still require clarification and foresight even though the City does not own the district heating grid yet. This mainly refers to the question of how to substitute an old coal power plant in Hamburg’s west with renewable sources to fulfil target 1)’s requirements of the referendum decision. So far, the power plant still provides a great share of the city’s heating demand through cogeneration of heat and electricity from coal. Clean alternatives for heat production from renewable sources are still explored by Hamburg’s State Ministry for the Environment and Energy in feasibility analyses and until now decisions are still pending.
In general, the constitution of this new instrument for democratic control of the energy distribution grid is seen as an unprecedented innovation, giving Hamburg a unique opportunity to make questions of energy policy subject to a wide-ranging debate throughout society.
Target 2) certainly constituted an even greater challenge for the City Government, as it requires a clear definition of what is meant by the stipulation of a ‘socially just, climate-friendly and democratically controlled energy supply from renewable energies’. Particularly the question whether to interpret ‘democratic control’ literally – as a direct control mechanism – or merely as an instrument for a consultative involvement, necessitated intensive discussions. The consultations on this question was facilitated by the Environmental Committee of the Hamburg City Parliament and carried out under the participation of a broad range of stakeholders, including representatives from environmental organisations, business and industry as well as employee representatives.
Ultimately, in February 2016, energy senator Jens Kerstan announced the formation of an Energy Advisory Board, which was integrated in the Energy Agency at the City’s Departmental Authority for the Environment and Energy. Members of this new Board include a broad range of 20 representatives from society, science, business, industry and most importantly all local grid companies, also including Vattenfall and E.ON, which still remain main shareholders of the district heating and gas distribution grid until the purchase options has been exercised. The board meets at least twice a year and already in 2016 there have been meetings in April, June and September, as well as an internal meeting in July. Each official meeting of the Energy Advisory Board is open to the public, giving citizens the opportunity to ask questions or to bring forward written proposals.
In general, the constitution of this new instrument for democratic control of the energy distribution grid is seen as an unprecedented innovation, giving Hamburg a unique opportunity to make questions of energy policy subject to a wide-ranging debate throughout society. However, the main challenge remains in form of the actual influence the Advisory Board should have on grid-related decision-making. While some members seek direct rights to also co-determine corporate decisions of the city-owned energy distribution grid company ‘Hamburg Energienetze GmbH’ (HEG), other members of the board merely want to limit the influence of the board to an advisory function. This basically constitutes a continuum that requires a well-balanced compromise in order to avoid the board becoming a toothless tiger or inefficient committee, slowing down the remunicipalisation process through limiting the HEG’s ability and pace in operative actions.
The major question, not only in Hamburg, certainly is to what extent a municipally managed energy distribution grids can contribute to a successful implementation of the Energiewende. The majority of the interviewees (even two former opponents of the remunicipalisation) agree that a municipalised grid provides direct access and the ability to act in favour of shaping the Energiewende. Primarily, this refers to grid-related investment decisions or the reinvestments of profits from the grid management. Regarding these investments in the electricity distribution grid, Alexander Heieis, former chairman of the works committee at Vattenfall and now employed at Stromnetz Hamburg, the municipal electricity distribution grid company, perceives a major difference between the latter and his former employer: “If Vattenfall would have remained owner of the electricity grid […] it would have been more difficult [for Vattenfall] to carry out these investments in same way, as they are already foreseen by today.” Heieis explains this difference in pace and extent of investments with a missing understanding of the Energiewende at the management level of Vattenfall. Other interviewees see another major difference in this context, stating that a publicly-owned energy distribution grid company is detached from the maxim of utility or profit maximisation and instead perceives the performance of its task rather as a public service to the common good.
Expert reports are carried out at the moment to determine the actual potential the city provides regarding district heating. For instance, possible alternative renewable heat supply could be generated from waste incineration plants, waste wood or industrial waste heat. Nevertheless, whether Hamburg could cover its entire heat demand from renewable energy remains a major challenge and needs decisive political action.
In terms of grid-specific properties, the district heating distribution grid, so far mainly running on coal, is crucial to successfully implementing the Energiewende. As natural monopoly, district heating is not obliged to the principle of unbundling, describing the separation of the network operator and energy supplier. Hence, ownership over the district heating grid means to not only own the grid, but also decide over the source of energy. In Hamburg the energy sources for the district heating are planned to be shifted towards renewables on the long term. Expert reports are carried out at the moment to determine the actual potential the city provides in this regard. For instance, possible alternative renewable heat supply could be generated from waste incineration plants, waste wood or industrial waste heat. Nevertheless, whether Hamburg could cover its entire heat demand from renewable energy remains a major challenge and needs decisive political action.
So far, Hamburg can be considered on track in implementing the referendum decision. However, key challenges remain unsolved. In particular, the repurchase of the district heating grid is still uncertain, but would be crucial for further implementing the Energiewende, while also decisively contributing to Hamburg meeting its climate mitigation targets in 2030. A failure in this regard would be irreversible with no possible prospect of a second attempt to repurchase the district heating distribution grid from Vattenfall in the near future, putting the Energiewende and climate protection at stake. Dirk Seifert, former member of OHOG and a representative in the Energy Advisory Board yet remains optimistic, noticing that since the referendum “the opportunities and obligations for the Hamburg Senate and City Parliament have grown tremendously, while it nevertheless remains a political struggle to ensure that these are implemented through institutions and forms of public participation […]. It is our task to push and press in this regard.”
When Ajuna Kagaruki and her husband built their new house in Mabwepande, a suburb of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, it was not an option to wait for the government to connect the area to the national grid. Instead, they decided to take action themselves in order to have electricity for their life with the three children. Today, a 120 kwh Solar Home System (SHS) lights the house, powers a TV and an iron and charges their mobile phones.
A. Kagaruki in front of her house with SHS. Image by Carmen Rosa.
“When we moved in here, there was no electricity. That was hard. My children were bored and the two older ones could sometimes not finish their homework in the evening.” Ajuna Kagaruki is 35 years old, works as a social welfare officer and on top of that, just accomplished her Master’s degree. Her husband is a lawyer. “Even though we had a nice house, we could not enjoy family life here, because it was dark when we all got home.” With this experience, Ajuna Kagaruki and her family are not alone in their country. In Tanzania, only 26% of households have access to the national grid. And only 11% of people in rural areas and 40% in urban areas have access to electricity at all.
Ajuna Kagaruki and her family changed this situation for themselves. A few months ago, they decided to buy a Solar Home System (SHS). While Ajuna knew about the technology before, she wasn’t convinced to install it, because she heard a lot of stories about bad services and technical problems. This situation is also very common in Tanzania. As there is a lack of expertise for the technology, a lack of trained employees as well as no quality standards for solar equipment, many installations fail or need intense maintenance. However, Ajuna Kagaruki came across one company, who was supposed to offer good and reliable after-sales service. “When the Mobisol technician explained me how the system worked, I was surprised how easy it is. I can actually handle it myself and if I need support, there is always a team to contact.”
A. Kagaruki and her daughter in front of the TV and solar battery. Image by Carmen Rosa.
Mobisol was founded 5 years ago, starting in Arusha in 2011. In 2013, the company had hired 30 people and 500 customers across Tanzania. Today there are about 400 employees in the country (about 200 sale agents, 150 local technicians, training technicians and assemblers) and 37.000 customers. All employees are trained by Mobisol in their academy centers is Arusha, Mwanza and Mbeya. “Especially finding good sales agents is difficult. Technicians, we usually find through universities or vocational trainings”, says one Mobisol staff member. The SHS are designed for households and small commercial use and are based on a rent-to-own idea: After a down payment of 8%, the customer makes a monthly payment for a maximum of three years. If a customer does not pay the monthly rate, which is done through M-Pesa, the system is locked down. When the full amount is paid off, the customer owns the system and produces electricity for free.
While Ajuna knew about the technology before, she wasn’t convinced to install it, because she heard a lot of stories about bad services and technical problems. This situation is also very common in Tanzania. As there is a lack of expertise for the technology, a lack of trained employees as well as no quality standards for solar equipment, many installations fail or need intense maintenance.
Ajuna Kagaruki’s 120 kwh SHS costed the family 163.000 TZS (about 76 USD) for the upfront payment and about 70.000 TZS (about 32 USD) for the monthly payment. “I am enjoying the light in the evening, watching TV and having a charged mobile phone whenever I need it. My older kids can do homework also at home and sometimes they even bring their friends to play after school.”
The Tanzanian government is aware of the fact that energy is the prerequisite for development. “We want to tackle the challenges that so many people in our country are facing every day,” says Doto Mashaka Biteko, Member of the Tanzanian Parliament and Chair of the Energy and Minerals Committee. “Therefore, the government is aiming to provide access to 50% of the population by 2020.” And Mwanahamisi Athumani Munkuda, Clerk to the Parliamentary Committee Energy and Minerals adds: “The parliament has allocated 53% of the national development budget – which is about 1.13 trillion TZ Schilling – for energy issues.”
Watching a TV running on solar power. Image by Carmen Rosa.
The National Energy Plan from 2015 unveils how this should be achieved and what the money should be spent for. “In fact, looking at the government’s strategy for enhancing access to electricity, it is mainly about expanding the national grid,” says Sixbert Mwanga, Head of Climate Action Network Tanzania (CAN Tanzania). “However, renewable energies provide a unique window of opportunity to transform the electricity production and supply of Tanzania. Examples from across the world actually show that a decentralized approach, based on off-grid and on-grid solutions, is much cheaper and delivers faster.” CAN Tanzania, in cooperation with the World Future Council and Bread for the World, is currently developing policy recommendations for transiting to 100% Renewable Energy as a mean to reduce poverty in the country.
Ajuna Kagaruki shares this experience: “The government says that the national grid will be extended to our area within the next 3 years. But I couldn’t wait that long to have electricity for my family. And now, even if we get connected to the grid, I would continue with our SHS, because by then, I will produce my electricity for free.”
Anna Leidreiter, Senior Programme Manager – Climate, Energy and Cities, World Future Council
Irene García, Policy Officer, Climate, Energy and Cities, World Future Council
“I have a dream of empowering 75 million people of Bangladesh through Renewable Energy Technologies”. This is how, back in 1996, Dipal C. Barua, now founder of the Bright Green Energy Foundation, decided to start expanding RE in Bangladesh and make the country the first solar nation of the world by 2020.
By then, the country faced a serious energy crisis. Only 30% of the 162 million people of Bangladesh had access to electricity. Supply was hardly reliable. Overall demand for electricity was rising by about 10 per cent annually. Infrastructure was deficient, poorly managed and could not reach many rural areas (where 75% of the population lives) due to inaccessibility and remoteness. Therefore, most of the energy needs were met by biomass for cooking and kerosene for lighting (Sea4all, 2012).
Today, the country has installed more than 4 million Solar Home Systems (SHS) in off-grid rural areas, benefiting over 25 million people and wiping kerosene for lighting off the map. At present, over 60.000 SHS are being installed per month. The country has gained the capacity and knowledge of assembling all components of SHS in its territory, with more than 100.000 green jobs. Children’s evening study time is reported to have improved, as well as the health of households members. Businesses are rising due to longer hours and more varied options of income-generation activities. And no kerosene is used for lighting. SHS has become affordable at the price of kerosene thanks to innovative financing schemes allowing for 15% down payment to install the 15w-to-85w packages system, and the remaining 85% to be paid in 12/24/36 monthly installments (Bright Green Energy Foundation, 2016).
This is astonishing for Bangladesh, a low-income country in which over 40% of its population lives below the international extreme poverty line of $1.25 per person per day (UKgov, 2014). Nevertheless, Bangladesh successfully managed to grasp the nettle and make a decisive step towards RE deployment as a means to provide widespread energy access and foster socio-economic development. As the Energy Adviser (Minister) to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Mr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury highlights: “Bangladesh used its courage and imagination to break barriers and increase Renewable Energy”.
This was not a smooth journey. As Dipal C. Barua stresses out, there were many challenges, such as limited or no access to finance; lack of skilled manpower; lack of proper financial model design to make SHS affordable; lack of awareness about the clean and environment friendly energy sources; and more important, there was a lack of national energy policy. The fact that Bangladesh was blessed with over 300 days of direct sunlight made him, nonetheless, embrace solar energy as the best solution to (em)power the population of Bangladesh.
“When the Government of Bangladesh saw that Solar Home Systems overpassed the 1 million in rural areas despite the absence of a political framework, they realized how serious the renewable energy pathway was to increase electricity access”, states Barua. Indeed, in 2000, the Government of Bangladesh issued its Vision and Policy Statement to bring the entire country under electricity by the year 2020. And because of its cost-competitive nature, this goal was being implemented in rural areas almost exclusively with the use of SHS.
According to Dr. Khan, professor at North-South University in Bangladesh: “Renewable energy off grid solutions were taking care of the poorest sectors of the population because they do not have the means to live where modern services are”. In response to these developments, 2008, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources of Bangladesh set a renewable energy policy to create an enabling environment and legal support to encourage the use of renewables. By virtue of this policy, the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) was established as a focal point to support the development and promotion of RE through policies, laws, rules and regulations relating to sustainable energy and through constant multi-stakeholder consultation. For Mr. Alauddin, Joint Secretary, Power Division, Ministry of Power and Mineral Resources “If you want to bring in a new technology, you also need an institution that has the skills, capacities and mandate for this. This is why we established SREDA”.
For the financing, a government-owned financial institution, the Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), played a critical role by providing its support through grants and loans to RE private and non-profit implementing organizations. Up to this day, only in SHS, IDCOL has invested more the $600 million and the agency is calculating that another 3.5 million SHS can be installed within next few years. Further, IDCOL is supporting bio-gas based power projects, solar-mini grid projects, solar irrigation pumps, and biogas pumps to move the country faster in RE deployment and have a significant impact on national GDP.
This experience is highly valuable to many countries that find themselves in similar situations. Tanzania is one of these countries, which is why the World Future Council, together with CAN-Tanzania and Bread for the World organized a study tour to Bangladesh on April 17-23, 2016 with a group of 10 members of Parliament, government decision-makers and civil society leaders in the field of renewable energy looking at strategies to rapidly expand first time access to electricity among its citizens with 100% RE.
“Let’s work together not to reinvent the wheel, but to see the different nature of the wheel”, as Mr. Malik, Executive Director and CEO of IDCOL highlighted when addressing the Tanzanian delegation. In Tanzania, 67.87% of the population lives below $1.25 a day.
This situation is compounded by the low level of electrification, where only 7% of rural population and 39% of urban population have access to electricity. In turn, lack of access to modern energy services exacerbates poverty due to persistent limited production opportunities and social facilities. But Tanzania, as Bangladesh, is endowed with abundant, high-quality renewable resources, which could play a significant role in meeting the county’s energy needs through off-grid solutions.
Today the African country is already ripping the socio-economic benefits of pilot projects being implemented by actors such as Tanzania Traditional Energy Development Organization (TaTEDO), and there are companies such as Mobisol which have installed more than 40.000 pre-paid SHS in Tanzania and Rwanda. But Tanzania can perform much better and at larger scale. “This study tour changed my mind about the potential of Renewable Energy as an effective tool to provide energy access to all people”, said one of the members of the Tanzania parliament after exploring the RE projects in rural off-grid areas of Faridpur, Madhukhali and Kustia, in Bangladesh.
When exchanging thoughts and experiences with Bangladeshi RE stakeholders, such as the Bangladesh Ministry of Energy, SREDA’s Chairman or the Director of Renewable Energy Limited, all participants concluded that this trip has just opened doors and is the start of a long journey of collaborations and working together. “In fact, we need to bring the experience from Bangladesh to Tanzania, especially on developing a comprehensive finance model for individual households and communities.”
Irene Garcia, Policy Officer, Climate, Energy and Cities, WFC
Anna Leidreiter, Senior Program Manager, Climate, Energy and Cities, WFC
The World Future Council in cooperation with the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (ITC) hosted a study tour to El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain for European Parliamentarians in order to provide hands-on capacity building on 100% Renewable Energy (RE). It provided an opportunity for Parliamentarians to meet practitioners and experts from the field to learn about potential policy outcomes and effects. The study tour did not only provide education and practical experiences but also an interactive and informal platform for knowledge exchange and discussions among policy makers.
How is the island supplied by 100% RE?
El Hierro’s 100% renewable energy strategy is anchored to its climate and geology. It benefits from stable and relatively strong winds throughout the year, and has appropriate island topography for the development of a pumped hydro storage system. As such, the majority of its 100% target is now being met by an 11.5MW wind farm, whose output is coupled with the functioning of a pumped hydro facility situated in a volcanic crater. When the winds are strong and the output from the farm exceeds the island’s demand (whose peak is approximately 7.5MW), the excess electricity is used to pump water into the upper reservoir constructed in empty crater for storage. When the winds are weak, or absent, the water stored in the upper reservoir is released and runs through hydro turbines (four units with a combined capacity of 11.3 MW) to produce electricity and storage in the lower reservoir. In this way, the pumped hydro system acts as a battery bank for the whole island. Another component of the system are the desalination plants that produce water for the islands’ residents – the plants are operated in an integrated manner with the wind farm, ensuring that the water supply for the island is also generated in a clean and sustainable way. Another component of the long term strategy is to replace the island’s 4,500 cars with electric vehicles, in order to further reduce reliance on imported fuels and promote sustainable development on the island. Finally, a focus has also emerged on encouraging the island’s agricultural industry to make greater use of bio-digesters in order to make use of local resources more efficiently.
What policy and governance framework enabled the success?
The Canary Islands’ policy framework integrated four political goals in a coherent and integrated vision, including 1) strengthening and diversifying the local economy, 2) energy security, 3) water security and finally 4) climate and environmental protection. El Hierro`s 100% RE strategy was enabled by the strong political will and commitment by the island`s government. Whereas the Regional Energy Plan for the Canary Islands foresaw a RE target of 36 % by 2020 for the region, El Hierro`s government officials achieved the implementation of 100% RE for their island. On the
regulatory side, Orden IET 1711, which sets the specific regulatory regime for the Wind-Pumped Hydro Power System of El Hierro, was key to realize the vision.
By proving its success, El Hierro inspired policy change for the Canary Islands as well. The regional parliament strongly supports the 100% RE target and has started to develop a robust policy framework to replicate the success on other islands. For example it just recently adopted the “decreto eólico 6” that simplifies the procedure for the authorisation of wind farms in the Canary Islands. Until now, wind farms were authorised through a tender process, which has delayed the installation of many of them. Now, the projects are authorised by the Regional Government, if all permissions are provided by the promoter (i.e. the promoter is not obliged to “wait” for the resolution of a tender process).
The initiative on El Hierro is a product of the close cooperation between the island government of the Canaries (which owns a 60% stake in the project), the Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (which owns 10%), and a private Spanish energy and utility group (which owns the remaining 30%). Finally, there are several interconnected factors that have helped turn El Hierro into a leading example of a 100% renewable energy island. These include:
What does 100% RE in El Hierro cost and how does it impact the economy?
The current electricity generation cost on El Hierro provides significant opportunity for lower cost alternatives and to displace the diesel generation on the island. The island’s oil use is currently approximately 40,000 barrels per year totalling approximately USD $4 Million in annual fuel import costs. Estimates suggest that the project will save the island approximately $2.5 Million in diesel costs every year. The remainder is currently used in the island’s transportation system. However, once the vehicle fleet is transitioned to rely on domestically produced electricity, this will effectively eliminate the island’s reliance on diesel power. This will not only save the island millions of dollars per year in imported fuels: it will also reduce its exposure to fossil fuel price volatility, making it more resilient to external shocks and strengthening the local economy by keeping more of its income in the region.
The Canary Islands are relatively isolated, approximately 300 kilometers from the coast of West Africa. This remoteness makes it more costly to import power system components such as generators, turbine towers, and distribution system infrastructure; it also makes it more expensive to fly in technical experts, such as engineers and project developers. This was partly overcome by partnering with, and building on the existing capacities of a local institute based in the main island Gran Canaría (ITC) that provided significant technical and strategic support over the course of the project. Drawing on the capacity of the ITC made it possible to develop a cluster of expertise in the Canary Islands. Hereby, the island has become a hub for knowledge sharing and for providing advisory services to other island governments as well as to stakeholders in countries with off-grid regions. This has had direct positive impact on the local economy and created jobs as well as new business models. Finally, the support of both local, national and international institutes, of business partners, as well as funding bodies such as the European Union played an important, if not invaluable role.
Lessons learnt from El Hierro’s 100% RE approach
As an island, El Hierro provides valuable lessons for other constituencies implementing 100% RE. This is particularly true for other islands as well as for countries with off-grid regions. Here, technology transfer and advice can facilitate the replication of El Hierro`s success model – particularly the provision of clean water through renewable energy powered desalination plants – which can stimulate rural development and improve the quality of life of the poor. Similarly, jurisdictions with an interconnected system and national grids can draw on the experiences of the island with a small population of about 10.000 inhabitants. Whereas the technological approach is probably not directly transferable to industrialized, grid-connected countries, the policy framework provides valuable lessons and experiences. 10 elements of a 100% RE policy framework, which the EL Hierro example proofs right:
Policy recommendations deriving from El Hierro’s 100% RE approach
For National Legislators
For European Legislators
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