From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
Just in case anybody thinks that the energy crisis is just a UK one, think again!
This article is from the German site, Blackout News:
The Germans have broken a record again. Drastically increased wholesale prices and expensive emission rights are driving electricity prices in Germany to ever new record levels. In addition, of course, there are also high taxes and levies for renewable energies and the network charges, which we have already listed in our article “This is why we have the most expensive electricity in the world”.
A new addition is the annually increasing CO2 tax on electricity generated from fossil fuels, which is one of the reasons why the electricity price has reached a new record.
Germany already has the highest electricity price in the world
Germany has the highest electricity price in an international comparison. However, a new peak was reached in August, higher than ever before. According to a current analysis by the comparison portal Verivox, one kilowatt hour of electricity now costs an average of 30.4 cents for private households.
Wholesale prices responsible for higher electricity prices
The wholesale prices for electricity rose significantly in 2021 and are therefore the main reason for the current rise in electricity prices. In January the average price on the EEX electricity exchange was 45.29 euros per megawatt hour and had already risen to 50.81 euros by July. This corresponds to a price increase of around 12 percent. The electricity providers are now passing the price increase on to the end consumer.
Electricity demand rises after corona lockdown
The reason for the rising wholesale prices is the increasing demand for the corona lockdown. The industry is ramping up its production to the level before Corona. At the same time, longer periods of darkness lead to a reduced supply on the producer side. Renewable energies delivered significantly less electricity than expected in 2021 due to the weather. That is why the network operators have to import large amounts of electricity from abroad at great expense.
The incident on August 14, 2021, on which the network operators had to take several industrial companies off the grid due to a lack of electricity in order to prevent a blackout, also shows how scarce the supply is now.
After the shutdown of the nuclear power plants, even higher prices are to be expected
The operators will shut down the last remaining nuclear power plants by the end of 2022. The resulting gap in supply cannot even come close to being covered by the construction of new wind power and solar systems. For this reason, other coal-fired power plants that have already been shut down must be reconnected to the grid to ensure the supply. Since coal-fired electricity, as well as electricity from gas-fired power plants, is burdened with the CO2 levy and the expensive emission certificates, one must reckon with a further increase in the price of electricity. In the first few weeks of September, wholesale prices even exceeded € 100 per megawatt hour for several days. The record value from August will probably be exceeded again in September.
https://blackout-news.de/en/news/electricity-prices-reach-new-record/
The August 14 blackout was reported at the time here:
Power supply for critical industrial companies disconnected from the grid On Saturday, August 14th, the network operators disconnected several industrial companies from the power grid in the evening. The electricity generation could no longer cover the current electricity demand in Germany. The power supply was critical and it was no longer possible to secure the supply even by importing electricity.
A break in solar power triggers the shutdown of industrial companies The generation of electricity in Germany on this Saturday was downright chaotic. During the day, the solar systems generated a lot of electricity due to the almost optimal solar radiation. Between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., the solar power reached a peak output of more than 30,000 megawatts. In the evening, the power generation of the solar systems collapsed drastically. Between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., they delivered around 3,000 megawatts, just 10% of the output from the afternoon. Demand for electricity not covered by electricity imports either
However, the demand for electricity in the evening was almost unchanged at a good 50,000 megawatts. The network operators therefore had to call up all available reserves. But the output of the pumped storage power plants and the lignite power plants run up to their maximum load was not enough to compensate for the deficit between electricity demand and electricity generation. The still missing amount of electricity could not be compensated by importing electricity from abroad. Therefore, shortly before 8 p.m., loads were shed from larger, energy-intensive industrial plants, such as aluminum and copper smelters.
The disconnection of the so-called immediately disconnectable loads took place for the affected companies, however, without prior warning. As we have already described in our article 5-Steps to Blackout – The Security Concept of the Power Grid, the 2nd stage of the security concept already took effect.
https://blackout-news.de/aktuelles/stromversorgung-kritisch-industriebetriebe-von-netz-getrennt/
Didn’t someone once declare: “I have seen the future – and it doesn’t work” ?
If the Germans can’t make it work, in the old days one would say don’t bother trying it. I’m afraid nowadays they have become garden variety stupid like everywhere else.
Covid takes a back seat to the stupid virus and there won’t be a vaccine for it. Even predictable calamities don’t seem to change behaviour suggesting even instinctive self preservation has broken down.
Fortunately, all this is is bad publicity for attracting people to a néomarxiste governance, certainly by the muppets who would be running the show. Sheesh
This, amazingly enough, is from the NY Times! So the NYT and the BBC have finally noticed who is doing the emitting.
And in Germany and the UK, people are finally noticing that wind and solar are intermittent.
People are coming to their senses. Slowly, one at a time, but they are.
Sadly, none of them are politicians!
One day someone will think to ask Engineering companies for their consensus of what to do…..instead of relying on movie stars, politicians, and environmental activists.
I guess the other thing, which is a lot less encouraging, is that the NYT does not then draw the logical conclusion, that their agenda requires ‘the other middle-income countries like China and India’ to reduce emissions.
That remains the conclusion that its politically and culturally incorrect to draw, even when in the same para you have noticed that two thirds of global emissions are coming from these countries.
We also have this weird pretence that a country, China, with per capita emissions equal to those of the EU, is in some way disadvantages. Its a ‘middle income’ country in the eyes of the NYT.
Just look up the stats on steel and electricity production for China and the US. Middle income? By any proper standard, the largest economy in the world. Not employing half their educated population in positions of diversity management, either.
Let’s hope that the central US is not hit by another winter like what happened last Feb. We here in Manitoba are part of MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator) and last Feb. were were able to up our commitment to MISO to help out. Because of this year’s drought, our hydro resources are being held back to ensure we have enough power for our province this winter. Manitoba Hydro has already said we might not be able to send much power south.
The last forcast I saw, which was yesterday, is for the central U.S. to be a little colder than normal.
You can misrepresent and lie about AGW but you can’t hide or downplay lack of electricity.
People are not going to appreciate sitting around in the dark for long periods of time, and will be especially unhappy if the weather is cold at the same time. Politicians better secure their energy supplies if they know what’s good for themselves, otherwise people may vote them out of office for being incompetent and unhelpful.
Enter the now typical UK solution to any problem, throw money at it…
Quote:”So far, four energy firms have gone to the wall, and four more are expected to follow in the coming days. On Sunday, the UK’s sixth largest energy company, Bulb, announced is seeking a bailout.
The government has said it is considering offering emergency state-backed loans to surviving energy companies to encourage them to take on customers from bust firms”
BBC
Amazing also..
I bookmarked that link barely 2 hours ago, when its headline read:
Rescue loans for gas firms urged over energy price crisis.
Spot and wonder, why the difference…..
Subsidise wind and solar with electricity bill taxes. Subsidise power stations to remain on standby for when wind and solar fail. Subsidise energy companies when they go bust due to government policy. All paid for by the taxpayer.
Yep we don’t call Boris ‘spaffer’ for nothing.
Energy companies going broke! Sheesh this wind and solar at 75 cents/kWh (yeah, nominally 30cents but I mean all-in including subsidies, bailouts, $1000/kWh during major shutdowns, etc), when fossil fuels made 5cents/kWh and paid taxes out of it!!
All the 100s of billions paid in taxes by oil/coal companies and their well-paid employees to all levels of gov (corporate taxes, individual income taxes, taxes at the gasoline pumps, etc.) will disappear from
G revenues. Don’t they see this? And guess who they’ll come to to replace this cashflow?
With ruinables, factories, energy companies, gov wand its citizens will all go broke.
The same cycle happens in Australia. Subsidise wind and solar, subsidies power stations to be on standby, and subsidise people who are now unable to pay their electricity bills because of governments’ policies.
Doesn’t the acceptance of any loan imply that things will get better in the future?
It’s only politicians and taxpayers who would believe that of the UK electricity situation!
Renewable energy firms failing? How is that even possible? After all, they don’t need to purchase natural gas or coal….
Leftists still think an electrical grid comprised primarily of wind and solar will miraculously be cheap, sufficient and sustainable despite all the math, physics and evidence that show the complete opposite…
As AOC says, “It’s better to be morally correct than to be factually correct.”
We’ll soon see if AOC’s platitudes are enough to keep the grids from crashing….
Did you hear that the designer who made AOC’s “Tax the Rich” dress, hasn’t been paying her taxes, both state and federal.
Yes, and because her “TAX THE RICH” dress was given as a gift, she violated House Ethics Rules, and could face some reprimands..
Oh,the irony of the Left.. They never cease to provide great humor.
The tickets were also a gift.
Regardless of the amount of evidence, nothing will be done.
Now had she been a Republican, she would be kicked out of congress. Democrats never go after their own.
Tax the Rich evasion story here;
Designer clothing brand that devised AOC’s ‘Tax the Rich’ Met Gala dress doesn’t even pay its OWN taxes! Records show Aurora James’ firm failed to pay state and federal taxes totaling $130,000
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10005599/Designer-AOCs-Tax-Rich-Met-Gala-dress-doesnt-pay-taxes.html
This most advanced countries on Earth and we can’t figure out how to supply our own people with reliable power? The world is laughing at us.
Unless the bodies are piling up in the streets from climate change, it’s hard to imagine that people are going to put up with high prices and high unreliability for very long.
Every time I ask a renewable cult member “If renewables are so cheap, why does Germany has the highest electricity prices in the world?”, they claim it’s because of the taxes on electricity. What is the logic in touting renewables because they are supposedly so cheap but then not passing the savings on to the consumer?
Has it occurred to anyone here that down voting griff’s posts may actually encourage him to keep posting? I think the better idea is to simply say what it is you disagree with, and ignore the down voting, or say nothing at all. I would do away with the up and down voting if this were my website. It’s pointless.
What happens to an aluminum smelter if it is turned off during the middle of a run full of molten metal?
Backup power for safe shutdown
This is a complicated topic. Here is everything you might ever want to know about it:
Aluminium International Today: Power failure, restart and repair
https://aluminiumtoday.com/content-images/news/Oyeweb.pdf
“A power outage may be partial or total, planned or unplanned. Time is an important parameter. Total loss of power for half an hour due to change of cathodes or minor repairs are no problem. Stops for two to four hours are manageable while five hours or more causes large problems with loss of cell life. “
Must be a complete coincidence……/sarc
New England, California to See Soaring Energy Costs This Winter (yahoo.com)
The Energiewende, German for “energy transition”, is the ongoing transition by Germany to a low carbon, environmentally sound, reliable, and affordable energy supply. The new system intends to rely heavily on renewable energy (particularly wind, photovoltaics, and hydroelectricity), energy efficiency, and energy demand management. The last nuclear power plant will shut down in 2022, all existing coal-fired generation will be retired by 2038. Legislative support for the Energiewende was passed in late 2010 and included greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions of 80–95% by 2050 (relative to 1990) and a renewable energy target of 60% by 2050.
— source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energiewende
Hey, freundliche Deutsche, how are you folks feeling right now about your Energiewende?
It’s not like you weren’t warned years ago.
The land of EVs and green investing is here to help with more gas sales.
WRAPUP 1-Norway promises Europe more gas as prices soar (yahoo.com)
Countries With Most Expensive Electricity Priceshttps://www.electricrate.com/data-center/electricity-prices-by-country/
The funniest part of that link is the leftard statement at end
Quote:
However, low electricity prices are not always a good thing – in many countries, they represent large quantities of cheap fossil fuels that continue to pollute our planet. Finally, as we ponder electricity and all its wonders, it’s important to remember that there are still people in the world without access to electricity (approximately 13%), so we shouldn’t take it for granted.
Communtards.
That is darn inconvenient. Those are not industries that can just restart by the turn of a switch.
Perhaps they can saw the lumps of metal into usable pieces?
One gets the idea that the operators who decided which industries to cut loose in that load shedding, aren’t the brightest.
Companies sign up to very low rates on the understanding that they will be hit with power cuts when needed.
If you agree to pay the full price then whole areas are blacked out instead.
Hang on: the reported August 14th power blackout seems to have been a result of a metal-coated balloon which came into contact with the relay station in Dresden
I can’t find any mention of the other events outside the ‘blackout news’ linked to by Notricksszone
This is only being reported on skeptic sites?
Is this even true?
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/klima-energie-und-umwelt/industriebetriebe-kurzzeitig-vom-stromnetz-genommen-17487869.html
Is it possible that Leftists are congenitally more susceptible to something in the air/water/food that harms them – manifesting as criminal insanity? Could it be the rest of us are shrugging whatever-it-is off successfully, while these poor souls fall victim to something akin to lead poisoning?
Ecocide, the new economic model fir the west….
The US is energy independent – but don’t expect CNN to tell you that. In fact, US is an oil exporting nation.
So they are shutting down factories? Hopefully this will wake up some Germans… “loads were shed from larger, energy-intensive industrial plants, such as aluminum and copper smelters.”
The characteristic of all governments is they promote scarcity while private enterprise is always working to increase abundance and lower prices.
“We must ever remember we are refining oil for the poor man and he must have it cheap and good.” – John D. Rockefeller