Germany hammers Trump over debate barbs about Berlin’s energy transition
www.politico.eu
“P.S. We also don’t eat cats and dogs,” Berlin’s foreign ministry taunts Republican presidential candidate.

“P.S. We also don’t eat cats and dogs,” Berlin’s foreign ministry taunts Republican presidential candidate.

Germany’s foreign ministry hit back Wednesday at former U.S. President Donald Trump after he criticized the country’s energy policy at the presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump slammed Germany in his closing remarks, claiming Berlin regretted its decision to transition to renewable energy.

…

But the German foreign ministry took umbrage at that, blasting Trump in an unusually blunt statement on social media.

“Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50 percent renewables,” the ministry wrote. “And we are shutting down — not building — coal and nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest.”

    • NekuSoulEnglish
      3•3 months ago

      Based on the article, it seems more like that’s more of a problem of south Sweden just having a big energy deficit in general, not as a result of imports/exports or the actions of Germany particular.

      The way I understand it, it’s more that a new connection just wouldn’t make sense because Germany already has a problem from moving energy from its own offshore wind parks in the north to the south.

      I couldn’t find a good article explaining the current energy situation in south Sweden, but looking at ElectrityMaps, I’d guess that part of the problem is that there’s a huge amount of nuclear energy being produced in South Central Sweden, saturating the grid and making the transfer of cheap hydro and wind energy from the northern Zones difficult.

      • troed
        1•3 months ago

        I live here and don’t need to guess :) We would be perfectly fine if Germany (mainly) wasn’t buying energy from us when prices are high on the continent. Due to how the energy market works we then have to pay those prices as well in the region bordering Germany.

        Splitting Germany up into energy regions (like Sweden is split up into four) would help - but Germany doesn’t want to.

        If you want to keep guessing instead of appreciating my first hand knowledge that’s fine - it’s just a bit tiresome.

        https://www.sydsvenskan.se/2024-05-28/darfor-ar-elpriset-mer-an-tio-ganger-hogre-i-lund-an-i-lulea/

        • NekuSoulEnglish
          1•3 months ago

          I can’t find a way to dodge the paywall to that article, but the short blurb I was able to translate, makes it sound like my guess is at least part of the problem:

          As long as the sun shines the most, Skåne benefits from cheap solar energy from our neighboring countries. As soon as solar energy declines, the price of electricity rises throughout Southern Sweden. The poor Swedish transmission capacity means that we cannot benefit from cheap northern hydropower.

          That said, I do agree that Germany should’ve long been split into two zones, at least until transmission capacity catches up. But alas, most people in Germany don’t even recognize that the lack of transmission capacities as the source of the problem and rather blame it on us importing expensive electricity from France.

          It’s actually those parallels why I’m so distrustful: I’m far from an expert on the topic, quite the opposite if anything, but given how many people, even politicians, put out even dumber claims much more confidently, I’m always wary about such statements.

          • troed
            2•3 months ago

            Our transmission capacity is enough for our own needs (since the danes forced us to close the perfectly working nuclear plant Barsebäck) - but it’s not enough for our needs and Germany’s.

            I’m very much pro EU but I do have issues with a huge part of Sweden having 10x the electricity prices of the rest of the country. It hits our manufacturing, farmers etc. I would be in favor of limiting our export to just our surplus. Germany could’ve skipped closing down their own fully working nuclear plants …

            (Sweden and Norway are also the ones to thank for Denmark being able to live mostly off wind power since it’s our hydro and nuclear power that they use to balance their network)

            I own a rather large property so I’ve had to become “an expert” on our electricity issues.

            From the paywalled article:

            I stället måste vi tidvis exportera el under dygnets mörka timmar till elbristens Tyskland. Därför blir strömmen 10-20 gånger dyrare i Skåne än i Norrland, Stockholm och Göteborg. Därför är det omöjligt att skapa en prisutjämning inom Sverige.

            • NekuSoulEnglish
              2•3 months ago

              Ok, I think I’m starting to see the issue now. One thing I’ve missed is that the “tiny” amount Germany is importing yearly is actually half of the consumption South Sweden. That sure puts a bit of stress on the system.

              I’ll say that I’m still not fully convinced due to the lack of concrete numbers, but it’s something I’ll keep in mind in the future.