POWER November 2016 - 9

from 2010 to 2014. " So it provides for
an increase in wind and renewables, " said
Adam.
As the new laws were being written,
however, energy development has continued
at a near-frenzied pace. Because
projects permitted in 2016 are still eligible
for FITs if they are completed by
2018, " we've seen a lot of projects
squeezing though the gates as the existing
schemes still hold force, " said WindEurope
CEO Giles Dickson in an interview
with POWER. Germany installed over 6 GW
of new on-and offshore wind combined
last year, according to a report by WindEurope
in early 2016, 2,282.4 MW of
which was offshore. But " already in the
first six months of 2016, another 2 GW of
new capacity-250 MW offshore and the
rest onshore-has been installed, " said
Dickson. For perspective, by the end of
last year, Germany already accounted for
44% of all wind installations in Europe.
Currently, upwards of 4,000 MW to
4,400 MW of new net power could be installed
or placed " into the pipeline " by
the end of the calendar year. " It's possible, "
said Morris, " that wind power will
make up nearly 16% of Germany's total
power supply by year's end-up fully two
percentage points from 2015. "
While energy providers and stakeholders
generally welcome the creation of a more
ordered path forward, renewables advocates
and many small-scale energy producers
worry about the curtailment of FITs in
exchange for auctions. Historically, more
than 800 energy cooperatives as well as
private investors, farmers, banks, and enterprises
have formed the backbone of the
Energiewende and today still own about
95% of total installed renewable energy
capacity. Energy cooperatives alone have
invested about €1.3 billion in renewable
projects, thus generating revenues for
communities, regions, and citizens. The
other 5% is owned by the " big four " energy
providers who were largely involved
in framing the new laws.
" It remains to be seen how small producers
will be able to compete against
those with much deeper pockets and
more access to capital, " said Anna Leidreiter,
senior program manager with the
World Future Council, in an interview
with POWER.
-Lee Buchsbaum (www.lmbphotography.
com), a former editor and contributor
to Coal Age, Mining, and EnergyBiz, has
covered coal and other industrial subjects
for nearly 20 years and is a seasoned
industrial photographer.
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November 2016 | POWER
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9
Europe Gets First MWScale
Industrial Fuel Cell
Power Plant
Europe's first megawatt-size fuel cell went
online in September. The 1.4-MW power
plant put online by E.ON and FuelCell Energy
Solutions in Mannheim, Germany, will
provide power over the next 10 years, at
least, for production processes of materials
specialist FRIATEC.
The plant was installed in only nine
months as a joint project by E.ON Connecting
Energies,
E.ON's
subsidiary
for
commercial and industrial energy solutions,
and FuelCell Energy Solutions, a
joint venture by Fraunhofer IKTS and FuelCell
Energy Inc.
It uses a 1.4-MW fuel cell with an electrical
efficiency of 47% that was designed
by Dresden-based FuelCell Energy Solutions.
The company said that the natural
gas-powered fuel cell will supply FRIATEC
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POWER November 2016

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