The German Green Transformation, with Focus on the “Energiewende” (Transition Towards Green Energy) in the Shadow of the Energy Crisis: Ambitions and Legal Challenges
(2025) HARN63 20251Department of Business Law
- Abstract
- At its origins, traceable back to about 50 years ago, the German “Energiewende” began as a fight against both nuclear energy, politicians pursuing nuclear-based energy strategies and also implementing them forcefully, as well as omnipotent enterprises.(1) After the Fukoshima tragedy in 2011, and the subsequent plans of Germany to abandon nuclear energy within its own borders, the term “Energiewende” became known internationally, even though the concept was somehow misunderstood and incorrectly constrained to an exit from the deployment of nuclear energy.(2) Instead, Energiewende could be defined as “the transition of a (almost entirely) fossil fuel and nuclear-based energy system towards an (almost entirely) renewable energy-based... (More)
- At its origins, traceable back to about 50 years ago, the German “Energiewende” began as a fight against both nuclear energy, politicians pursuing nuclear-based energy strategies and also implementing them forcefully, as well as omnipotent enterprises.(1) After the Fukoshima tragedy in 2011, and the subsequent plans of Germany to abandon nuclear energy within its own borders, the term “Energiewende” became known internationally, even though the concept was somehow misunderstood and incorrectly constrained to an exit from the deployment of nuclear energy.(2) Instead, Energiewende could be defined as “the transition of a (almost entirely) fossil fuel and nuclear-based energy system towards an (almost entirely) renewable energy-based system”.(3)
This paper will look at German efforts to bring about this radical change in the way its energy creation and utilisation is functioning, thereby re-configuring its economy and enabling change towards a greener tomorrow. By means of taking actual plans, developments and achievements as a starting point, the thesis will investigate legal instruments lying at the base of such evolutions, or at least fostering them to a significant degree. Due to Germany being an EU Member State, the illumination of legal devices will have to include both the national and the supranational level, and the interaction between those. As will be shown in this thesis, these two echelons of law are of some ambiguity regarding their interrelation, and involve complexity, which not in all instances is conducive for Germany’s green development. Despite some difficulties, Germany, however, has already made good progress towards increased sustainability and green energy utilisation, and is taking strides to push this development even further. State aid, authorised by the EU Commission, has been an important ingredient in this evolution, and EU programs have delivered additional financial support.
(1) Craig Morris and Arne Jungjohann, Energy Democracy: Germany’s Energiewende to Renewables (Palgrave Macmillan 2016) 4 and ch 2 <https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31891-2> accessed 25 May 2025.
(2) Craig Morris and Arne Jungjohann, Energy Democracy: Germany’s Energiewende to Renewables (Palgrave Macmillan 2016) 4-7 <https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31891-2> accessed 25 May 2025.
(3) David Jacobs, ‘The German Energiewende – History, Targets, Policies and Challenges’ (2012) 3(4) Renewable Energy Law and Policy Review 223, 225 <www.jstor.org/stable/24324660> accessed 25 May 2025. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9195021
- author
- Rössler, Wilfried Werner LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- HARN63 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Green Transformation, Energy, Germany, State Aid, European Union, Energiewende
- language
- English
- id
- 9195021
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-11 09:33:57
- date last changed
- 2025-06-11 09:33:57
@misc{9195021,
abstract = {{At its origins, traceable back to about 50 years ago, the German “Energiewende” began as a fight against both nuclear energy, politicians pursuing nuclear-based energy strategies and also implementing them forcefully, as well as omnipotent enterprises.(1) After the Fukoshima tragedy in 2011, and the subsequent plans of Germany to abandon nuclear energy within its own borders, the term “Energiewende” became known internationally, even though the concept was somehow misunderstood and incorrectly constrained to an exit from the deployment of nuclear energy.(2) Instead, Energiewende could be defined as “the transition of a (almost entirely) fossil fuel and nuclear-based energy system towards an (almost entirely) renewable energy-based system”.(3)
This paper will look at German efforts to bring about this radical change in the way its energy creation and utilisation is functioning, thereby re-configuring its economy and enabling change towards a greener tomorrow. By means of taking actual plans, developments and achievements as a starting point, the thesis will investigate legal instruments lying at the base of such evolutions, or at least fostering them to a significant degree. Due to Germany being an EU Member State, the illumination of legal devices will have to include both the national and the supranational level, and the interaction between those. As will be shown in this thesis, these two echelons of law are of some ambiguity regarding their interrelation, and involve complexity, which not in all instances is conducive for Germany’s green development. Despite some difficulties, Germany, however, has already made good progress towards increased sustainability and green energy utilisation, and is taking strides to push this development even further. State aid, authorised by the EU Commission, has been an important ingredient in this evolution, and EU programs have delivered additional financial support.
(1) Craig Morris and Arne Jungjohann, Energy Democracy: Germany’s Energiewende to Renewables (Palgrave Macmillan 2016) 4 and ch 2 <https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31891-2> accessed 25 May 2025.
(2) Craig Morris and Arne Jungjohann, Energy Democracy: Germany’s Energiewende to Renewables (Palgrave Macmillan 2016) 4-7 <https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31891-2> accessed 25 May 2025.
(3) David Jacobs, ‘The German Energiewende – History, Targets, Policies and Challenges’ (2012) 3(4) Renewable Energy Law and Policy Review 223, 225 <www.jstor.org/stable/24324660> accessed 25 May 2025.}},
author = {{Rössler, Wilfried Werner}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The German Green Transformation, with Focus on the “Energiewende” (Transition Towards Green Energy) in the Shadow of the Energy Crisis: Ambitions and Legal Challenges}},
year = {{2025}},
}