Editorial

At the beginning of 2024, the mood in Germany is rather subdued due to the impacts of the budget freeze, farmers’ demonstrations, rail strikes and reports of contemptuous discussions involving a party that is performing well in the polls.

We’ve summarised the impacts of the budget freeze on our Cluster Agency and its member companies in a paper for EEHH. This reveals a mixed picture, affecting the entire (renewable) energy supply industry, from small artisan firms, to global wind power producers. But the impacts are very different: for energy consultants and artisan firms, it’s usually about a lack of orders as a result of ambiguities in the funding programmes; for wind producers, it’s about the hitherto extremely hesitant public support for developing the necessary production facilities; and for major hydrogen projects, it’s about protracted delays in funding approvals.

Of course, it’s about money, lots of money, which ultimately decides whether and how many homes are renovated, heat pumps and solar panels are installed and wind turbine production facilities are expanded. It also determines by when how much green hydrogen will be available for industrial decarbonisation. All important topics that are definitely worth a great deal of effort. But as an industry, we mustn’t forget that we primarily need acceleration, less bureaucracy, digitalisation and simpler regulation in many areas, instead of making our energy supply increasingly complex and cumbersome. Adopting a consistent approach could be the order of the day in 2024, even though financial issues are still important, of course.

Our own activities and initiatives can generate a great deal of positive impetus. The enormous growth in solar power and energy storage in 2023 reveals the momentum that the industry and the ‘market’ can trigger by itself. The hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets across the country last weekend against anti-constitutional developments also reveal that the vast majority of people want an open, democratic society. So it’s worth developing our own powerful initiatives in many areas in 2024!