A high-level UK delegation led by Caroline Flint MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, visited Berlin and Hamburg as part of a three-day study tour to discuss various aspects of Germany’s energy transition (Energiewende). A particular focus was placed on decentralised energy systems and the financing of community energy projects.

The programme was opened by R. Andreas Kraemer, Director of Ecologic Institute, who provided an introduction to Germany’s decision to pursue the Energiewende, placing it in both national and international contexts and examining its economic, environmental, and societal dimensions. The three-day programme also included the following activities:

• A discussion with representatives of WWF Germany, including Dr Regine Günther, Head of WWF Germany’s Climate Team.
• A presentation and discussion at the Berlin office of KfW Banking Group on KfW funding programmes for energy efficiency and sustainable buildings.
• A meeting with Jochen Flasbarth, President of the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), on the forthcoming challenges of the Energiewende.
• A discussion with Matthias Machnig, Minister for Economic Affairs of the State of Thuringia, on the need for reform in German energy policy.
• A site visit to the control centre of transmission system operator 50Hertz in Neuenhagen, whose grid area accounts for a particularly high share of wind power generation requiring active system balancing, with 41% of installed generation capacity coming from wind energy.
• A lunch discussion with representatives of Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND) and local citizen initiatives.
• A meeting with Jochen Homann, President of the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).

In Hamburg, discussions at the Hamburg Institute focused on local and regional strategies and projects related to the Energiewende. Several of these initiatives were subsequently visited during a study tour of projects developed under the International Building Exhibition (IBA Hamburg). In the district of Wilhelmsburg Mitte, participants were able to visit, among others, the “smart” buildings of the “Building Exhibition within the Building Exhibition” project as well as the Energy Bunker.

The German Federal Foreign Office supported this visit through funding for programme assistance, which included expert briefings, substantive guidance throughout the programme, and organisational support provided by Ecologic Institute.