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The solo draws to a close
https://www.cleanenergywire.org/dossiers/germanys-energy-transition-european-context
Germany’s energy transition in the European context

Germany’s energy transition began as lonely expedition. Expanding green energy rapidly and switching off its nuclear power stations antagonised some neighbours and the European Commission. Germany has now learned that it cannot reach its goals independently and is investing in cooperation. But while many European countries are following in Germany’s footsteps, a European consensus does not appear within easy reach.

In a recent speech to an international audience in Berlin, the influential state secretary of the German energy ministry Rainer Baake explicitly addressed critics of Germany’s energy transition (Energiewende), saying, “People in this country and also outside of Germany who believe this must be some kind of act of renationalisation of energy policy […] could not be more wrong.” Germany, Baake insisted, wanted to develop the transformation of the energy system – replacing fossil and nuclear power with renewables – in close cooperation with its neighbours. A Green Party member and one of the architects of the Energiewende, Baake pointed to Germany’s history of largely ignoring its neighbours on energy policy, and its current, more cooperative intentions.

“Until two to three years ago, the Energiewende was mostly a solo project of Germany,” says Markus Steigenberger, head of European Energy Cooperation at the German energy think-tank Agora Energiewende*. “Now, the European dimension is very present at the top political level, not only among experts.”