Oh ! To be in
Fatherland !
--------------------------------------
Germans call their country, “ Fatherland
“
Germans are also known for their very
high standard of Discipline / Efficiency /
Productivity – and , in recent past , have bailed out , some “ about to
go bankrupt “ European countries
But it is also a very cold country and I
would avoid going there ( - fortunately , I have no reason to go there ! )
But the reason behind the title of this
blog , is the following news :
Now, Germans get paid to use power
The Times of India (Mumbai edition)
28 Dec 2017
Germany has spent $200 billion over
the past two decades to promote cleaner sources of electricity.
That enormous investment is now having
an unexpected impact — consumers are now
actually paid to use power on occasion, as was the case over the
weekend.
Power prices plunged
below zero for much of Sunday and the early hours
of Christmas Day on the EPEX Spot, a large European power trading exchange, the
result of low demand, unseasonably warm weather and strong breezes that
provided an abundance of wind power on the grid.
Such “negative
prices” are not the norm in Germany, but they are far from rare, thanks
to the country’s effort to encourage investment in greener forms of power
generation.
Prices for electricity in
Germany have dipped below zero — meaning customers are being paid to
consume power — more than 100 times this year alone, according to EPEX Spot.
What causes negative prices ?
Basically, when the
supply of power outstrips demand for it.
The energy supplies that Germany depends
on, are less predict- able than they used to be. Wind power, in particular, is
highly dependent on changes in weather patterns.
Giant spinning turbines produce, on
average, about 12% of Germany’s power, but on windy days, they can generate
several times that amount.
At the same time, other mainstays of the
electricity supply, especially some coal and nuclear power plants, are unable to dial back quickly enough,
leading to negative prices on electricity trading markets.
I believe this EXTREMELY LOW price
of electricity is , one more reason ( apart from discipline / efficiency /
productivity , cited above ) , why Germany is a very prosperous country
What do this “ Near ZERO “ electricity prices mean to the German Economy ?
·
Costs of manufacture of “ products
” and delivery of “ services “ ,
go down
·
·
Industrial robots consume a lot of electricity. These
become cheaper to operate
·
·
Cheaper “ operating cost “ of
robots encourage companies to replace “ high
wage “ workers with more robots – further reducing manufacturing costs
·
·
Rapidly increasing demand for robots leads to more manufacture of robots
, which generates jobs for more skilled workers
·
·
Ave annual work-hours in Germany has dropped from 1371 ( 2014 ) to 1363
( 2016 )
·
·
“ Electricity cost as a percentage of
total manufacturing cost “ for Steel , comes to around 30 %. This percentage is much higher for
Aluminum / Copper etc
·
·
What
happens if this Electricity cost drops drastically ?
Raw
material costs drop
And
when Raw Material Costs drop, costs of ALL
products drop !
When
Product Costs drop , it becomes a LOW COST
ECONOMY –
enabling greater exports !
Even in some distant future , can we
expect such a scenario in India ?
It is possible if our Policy Makers ,
implement :
FROM GREED TO GREAT ? [ 01
Oct 2015 ]
Unlimited Power : and round the clock ? [ 29
July 2016 ]
Sun : Our Soul ( A New SOS ) [ 02
Jan 2017 ]
Solar Power at Rs 1 per Kwh ? [ 29
Jan 2017 ]
How Cheap can it get ? [ 14
March 2017 ]
INDIA : the NEW LAND OF THE RISING SUN ? [ 01
April 2017 ]
Green Buildings ? Put Greed to Work ! [ 05
June 2017 ]
==================================================
To figure
out how far we are from Electricity Price of Re 1 / kwh , read :
29 Dec 2017
www.hemenparekh.in
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