Click to enlarge — Luftfoto/Scheer
Wind energy is a vital part of a German move to a low-carbon economy, the German economic minister said during the inauguration of RWE’s Nordsee Ost wind farm.
German Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel hosted ministers from the Group of seven industrialized economies, along with representatives from RWE, for the inauguration of the 48-turbine wind farm off the northern German coast.
“Offshore wind energy is a strategically important element of Germany’s energy and climate policy and is key to the success of the energy transition,” Gabriel said…
Germany is one of the world leaders in renewable energy, a trend established after its decision to move away from nuclear power, in the wake of the nuclear tragedy in Japan in 2011. The United Kingdom is close behind and, combined, the European Union has more than 100 gigawatts of wind power online.
Nordsee Ost has an installed capacity of 295 megawatts, enough power to meet the annual energy needs of about 320,000 households.
RWE’s project is among the largest of its kind in the world and, by year’s end, more than 40 percent of its power capacity will be generated from wind energy.
“The expansion of renewable energy is one of our main growth areas and offshore wind energy will play a vital role,” Chief Executive Officer Peter Terium said. “RWE will become the third largest player in the European offshore market this year.”
Strange as it may seem to Americans, European conservatives haven’t dedicated their political careers to standing in the way of switching to renewable energy sources and walking away from unhealthy fossil fuels, uneconomic nuclear power generation.
Eideard 
Decades of support for soundly-built, safely-managed nuclear power generation are surpassed by the cost-benefit ratios of solar and wind power. The difference will continue to increase with increasing costs for safety in the former vs the economies of scale in growing tech in the latter.
Germany is in the midst of a $4.7-billion lawsuit occasioned by its decision to phase out nuclear power. (Trade-Agreement Troubles http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/22/trade-agreement-troubles
“A proposed system between the United States and the European Union that would allow corporations to sue governments has Europeans up in arms. In the EU the system, investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), was until two years ago understood by only a few — but that changed when a Swedish nuclear energy company sued Germany for $4.7 billion for deciding to phase out nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. ISDS, a relatively obscure system of for-profit arbitration courts that has long been controversial in legal, corporate and policy circles, is catching public attention as it’s poised to become a lot more powerful. In these courts, such as the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, D.C., foreign corporations sue governments over investment disagreements. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/27/a-eu-us-trade-agreement-could-allow.html
On Tuesday the U.S. Senate narrowly voted to end debate on legislation granting President Obama enhanced negotiating powers to complete a major Pacific trade accord, which virtually assures final passage today of the Trans-Pacific Partnership that will link 40% of the world’s economy in a web of rules. The procedural vote of 60 to 37 just reached the minimum needed, but final Senate passage will require only 51 votes. The House approved this trade promotion authority last week. Once the TPP is iun the bag the administration can bear down on a second agreement with Europe – known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – knowing that lawmakers will be able to vote for or against those agreements but will not be able to amend or filibuster them. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/us/politics/senate-vote-on-trade-bill.html
Reblogged this on Niki.V.all.ways.My.way. and commented:
Its easy to be efficient when thats the priority.
July 24th: “EU’s grid connected cumulative capacity in 2014 reached 129 GW {gigawatt}, meeting 8% of European electricity demand, equivalent to the combined annual consumption of Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Ireland. According to a JRC report, the impressive growth of the industry will allow at least 12% electricity share by 2020, a significant contribution to the goal of the European energy and climate package of 20% share of energy from renewable sources.
The 2014 JRC wind status report {see link} presents the technology, market and economics of the wind energy sector with a focus on the EU. Wind power is the renewable energy which has seen the widest and most successful deployment over the last two decades, increasing the global cumulative capacity from 3 GW to 370 GW. Last year represented an annual record with 52.8 GW of wind turbines capacity installed worldwide, a 48% increase compared to 2013 and 17% over the 2012 record of 45.2GW.” http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-07/ecjr-wep072415.php
Royal Dutch Shell has received approval from the US Department of Interior to explore for oil in the Arctic. http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32696199
Dutch solar road makes enough energy to power household : Engineers in the Netherlands say energy-generating road surface is more successful than expected, six months into trial. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/150510092535171.html The solar panels are connected to smart metres, which optimise their output and feed the electricity to street lighting or into the grid.