Wind on the Wires1 - Smart Grid (R) Evolution: Electric Power Struggles - page 157

responsible for assessing the environmental impacts of planned transmission projects.
When Germany passed the Energiewende in 2011, it also passed the Grid Expansion
Acceleration Act for Transmission Networks (NABEG) to try to help speed transmission
planning and development.
While the federal government has been involved in making new transmission plans to
connect northern wind resources to southern demand, the subnational German Lander and
municipalities have important planning rights too. The German constitution guarantees
Lander, municipalities, and municipal associations the rights to regulate local affairs, and
transmission planning decisions have traditionally been made at the local level. As a result,
in spite of strong central government support, the strong federalist nature of the German
political system has made it exceedingly difficult to build the required North-South
transmission lines.
Finally, in 2013, the government passed the Federal Requirement Plan for Transmission
Networks ( Bundesbedarfsplan Übertragungsnetze ) to support the development of
thirty-six new transmission lines and gave the BNetzA expanded authority to plan, site,
and approve the lines. While actual development will be done with private transmission
owners, expanded authority could help to facilitate and speed line development. However,
this remains controversial. For example, the town of Meerbusch is planning to file a
constitutional complaint, alleging that its municipal planning rights are being violated by
the new federal law (Lang and Mutschler 2014 ) .
6.6.3 Integrating Wind (and PV) in the Energiewende
Integration of renewable resources into the German grid is mandated by law. The policy of
February 2000, “An Act on Granting Priority to Renewable Energy Sources” (Renewable
Energy Source Act), gives all renewable-based generation explicit priority access to the
grid. This means that when wind or solar plants are producing electricity, they are
dispatched first and other generators are displaced. In addition to the rapid rise of wind,
solar PV has increased, with more than 36 GW installed by April 2014. When wind and
solarweresmall,thisdidnotgreatlyaffectgridoperationsorutilityprofits,butastheyhave
become a more significant portion of the system, other generators - gas, coal, and even
nuclear plants - have needed to ramp dispatch up or down to accommodate the renewable
resources.
Together, the rapid rise in renewables and the priority dispatch order have affected the
profits of other generators. Fuel for wind and solar plants is free and when they operate
they can make the overall system cheaper, but this also undermines the business models
of traditional generators and utilities. These losses have become significant because the