Green energy as a tool of Germany’s smart power

The Climate Action Plan was a successor to Climate Action Programme 2020, which is not worth examining here, as it was largely reformed. Adopted in 2016, it set many promising emission-cutting targets, aimed to reduce emission by 80-95% by 2050. The plan itself was developed for all economical fields, but as our interest lies in the energy sector, we will focus on the following: by 2030 the emissions in energy production should be reduced by 60-62% Klimashutzplan 2050 // Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, 2016. P. 38.. The plan identifies 2 main pillars of this target: energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. The promotion of renewables in this document is also elaborated via EEG and its 2017 amendment.

We should also consider NREAP or National Renewable Energy Action Plan, which is the part of Directive 2009/28/Ec of the European Parliament and of The Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. The Directory sets the individual targets for each EU state to achieve a specific share of renewables in gross final energy consumption by 2020. According to this legislation, Germany should reach a 20% share by 2020 DIRECTIVE 2009/28/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC. Retrieved from: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32009L0028&from=EN .

As it was stated in the previous subchapter, the share of renewables became a valid part of Germany's coalition agreements. The 2013 coalition agreement promoted to achieve a 40-45% share in 2025 and 55-60% in 2035. The 2018 coalition agreement expands these objectives: the 65% share of renewables in electricity supply should be achieved by 2030 Koalitionsvertrag zwischen CDU, CSU und SPD 19. Legislaturperiode. P. 14. Retrieved from: https://www.bundesregierung.de/resource/blob/975226/847984/5b8bc23590d4cb2892b31c987ad672b7/2018-03-14-koalitionsvertrag-data.pdf?download=1

Thus, we can observe a set of short-, mid- and long-term targets of renewable energy development in both final energy consumption and electricity production. International Energy Agency in their 2020 Germany's report sorts them in this way: to achieve 18% of renewable energy's share in final energy consumption by 2020 with an increase up to 30% by 2030 and 60% by 2050; to achieve 35% share of renewables in electricity production by 2020 with an increase up to 65% by 2035 and 80% by 2050 Germany 2020 Energy Policy Review // International Energy Agency. 2020. P. 90. Retrieved from https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/G/germany-2020-energy-policy-review.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4.

The implementation of these targets was put on EEG, which was revised in 2014 and 2017. Both revisions introduce significant changes in renewable energy's promotion and thus are needed to be closely examined. First, the EEG since 2014 included the goals to increase the renewable share in the first section of the acts. Section 1 of both revisions states the following: “The aim of this Act is to increase the proportion of electricity generated from renewable energy sources as a percentage of gross electricity consumption to 1. 40 to 45 percent by 2025, 2. 55 to 60 percent by 2035 and 3. at least 80 percent by 2050” Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2017). Part 1, Section 1. Retrieved from: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Downloads/renewable-energy-sources-act-2017.pdf%3F__blob%3DpublicationFile%26v%3D3. This way the targets presented in Energy Strategy, NREAP, Climate Action Plan and coalition agreements become obligatory and cannot be viewed just as recommendations or ideas. Besides that, we can also take a closer look at the reforms in EEG. Mainly, they are aimed to make renewable energy more market-oriented and compatible with less governmental support. The EEG reform in 2014 obliged the renewable producers to sell the generated electricity themselves, introducing direct marketing instead of the previous scheme, when the feed-in payment was automatically paid to all the renewable producers. This feed-in tariff was replaced by a market premium for selling renewable electricity Appunn K. Comparing old and new: Changes to Germany's Renewable Energy Act // Clean Energy Wire, 2014. Retrieved from:https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/comparing-old-and-new-changes-germanys-renewable-energy-act. The way to set the RE price was also changed. The bidding model was introduced, applicable since 2017: only investors offering the lowest electricity price would become financial support from the government, while previously the feed-in tariffs were manually developed by German administration and set for every RE producers Ibid. . In the period from 2014 to 2017, the experimental bid system was performed to develop the final process by 2017. The specific bidding mechanism was finally introduced in the 2017 EEG amendment. A so-called "deployment corridor" for each type of renewable source was also introduced: the law defined the amount of RE sources which can be deployed each year. The auction system also began to work, and the competitive measures came into force: the remuneration payments will be only introducers to producers who won the tender 2017 Ammendement of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2017) // International Energy Agency, 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.iea.org/policies/6125-2017-amendment-of-the-renewable-energy-sources-act-eeg-2017. EEG defines the number of tender volumes, their amount pro year and ceiling price for electricity, all of it being specific to each RE source. For example, the onshore wind tenders begin in May 2017, reaching 2,8 GW per year until 2019 and 2,9 GW from 2020; the overall number of tenders reaching 3-4 per year and ceiling price for electricity set to be 7 EUR cent for kWh Ibid.. The rules of tenders are specific for each renewable energy source. The tariffs given via tender will continue to apply for the next 20 years Ibid. . However, so-called "utility-size installations" are not included in the competition: small renewable plants with a capacity less than 750 kW and 150 kW in case of biomass will receive the previous tariffs defined by previous revisions of legislation Ibid. .

As we can see, these reforms aim at liberalizing the renewable energy market, reducing governmental interventions and making renewable sources more compatible. This approach received contradictory reactions at that moment. Some of the opponents to the auction mechanism argued, that this system would increase financial risks and make renewable investment less preferable. For example, Claudia Kemfert from the German Institute for Economic Research claimed: “Auctions reduce planning security and increase financial risks for investors. The corresponding risk premium increases the cost of the Energiewende. Additionally, growth corridors will be missed, if companies win an auction but postpone construction for whatever reason” Kemfert C. Energiewende gefдhrdet // VDI Nachrichten. Retrieved from: https://www.vdi-nachrichten.com/technik/energiewende-gefaehrdet/. The possibility of not enough investors taking part in auctions was also stated Amelang S. Germany's energy transition revamp stirs controversy over speed, participation // Clean Energy Wire, 2016. Retrieved from: https://www.cleanenergywire.org/dossiers/reform-renewable-energy-act . The deployment corridors became a point for criticism too as some experts argued, that it will slow down the development of renewable energy sources and thus complicate achieving climate targets Germany 2020 Energy Policy Review // International Energy Agency. 2020. P. 93. Retrieved from https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/G/germany-2020-energy-policy-review.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4.

However, as the IEA 2020 report claims, the auctions had a positive effect on reducing renewable energy prices. Their research provides information on a decrease of photovoltaic and onshore wind prices given through the auction system from December 2014 to May 2019 for solar energy and from March 2017 to May 2019 for onshore wind (the solar energy was tested by experimental auction system launched by EEG 2014, auctions for the onshore wind began only in 2017 when EEG 2017 came into force). It is notable, that the prices of photovoltaic have felt dramatically in this period: from circa 90 Euro for MWh in December 2014 to 43.3 MWh in February 2019 Ibid.. However, the slight increase can be observed in the year 2019, where the price reached a peak of around 65 Euro for MWh Ibid.. Despite the successful decline of prices in the solar field, the onshore prices turbulence from March 2017 to May 2019 and remained at the same level of around 60 Euro for MWh Ibid.. The auction results for offshore wind are interesting too. In the first auction, which happened in April 2017 were selected 4 projects of which one has become 60 Euro premium and 3 remaining were granted 0 Euro or "zero premium", which means, that they sell the electricity at the wholesale market level Germany 2020 Energy Policy Review // International Energy Agency. 2020. P. 93.. In the next auction, which was held in April 2018, 6 projects were chosen. Four of them became 46.6 Euro for MWh premium and 2 remained bided “zero premium” again Ibid.. Thus, we can notice that in general the auction system lowers the prices of renewable energy production and makes it more competitive, although some fluctuations are still mentioned. Moreover, according to the IEA report, the surcharge for renewable energy was also stabilized with the help of auction system and remained almost on the same level since 2013 Ibid. P. 94. .

Last but not the least aspect of energy policy in Germany is energy research and investments on it. According to the IEA 2020 Report, the Federal government spent 1.01 billion Euros on energy-related research, development, and demonstration (RD&D), while the German states themselves have spent around 248 million Euros in 2016 Ibid. P. 113.. The largest share of this spending, namely 29%, contributes to the renewable sources Ibid. P. 114. . According to the IEA data, the funding of energy RD&D has almost doubled since 2008 when around 550 million Euros were spent Ibid. . However, as long as the renewable's share was always the biggest one, the overall amount of renewable RD&D has not changed significantly: according to the IEA bar chart, around 180 million Euros was spent on renewables, which then fluctuated until 2017, reaching around 300 million Euro in 2017 Ibid. . German institutions continuously conduct energy research programs: the last one or “7th Energy Research Programme” was adopted in 2018 by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), the Federal Ministry of Food And Agriculture (BMEL) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As the program states, the main goal of the research is "to develop innovative, integral solutions to meet the challenges of the energy transition and launch them onto the market quickly” 7^th Energy Research Programme of the Federal Government // The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. 2018. P. 13. Retrieved from: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Publikationen/Energie/7th-energy-research-programme-of-the-federal-government.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=5 . The government is expecting to spend 6.4 billion Euros on this program from 2018 to 2022 Ibid. P. 8. . The main areas covered by researches include energy transition, the increase of renewables in final energy consumption, power generation technologies, including renewables, and system integration of renewable energy Ibid. P. 13 .

Thus, we can argue, that German government has developed a set of various energy policies with different low-, mid- and long-term goals and the toolkit of legislation, all contributing to the main points of energy strategy: increasing the number of renewable energy sources in final energy consumption and electricity production. The German government has set very ambitious targets, given the limited amount of time, but it is a matter of fact that their policies are thoroughly developed and cover all the aspects of the energy transition. Moreover, they evolve, which the EEG reformation confirms: denial of constant and guaranteed tariffs to the producers makes the market more competitive and meeting the requirements of a liberal economy. However, the adoption of measures and their implementation are two different subjects: the effects, which regarded strategy and policies have on the energy market in general and renewable energy sources will be discussed in the next subchapter.

2.3 Energy transition results and effects

Now as we have already examined German energy policy and plans to promote renewable energy sources, the assessment of its effectiveness should be conducted. This is a necessary part of research because we should concentrate not only on theoretical and legal framework of the energy transition but on the implementation of policies. This subchapter provides information on the effects which German energy policies have on the energy sector, the share of renewables and the process of the energy transition. To perform this task several statistics and reports were observed, including the statistical information from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), Arbeitsgruppe Erneuerbare Energien-Statistik (AGEE-Stat or Work Group for Renewable Energy Statistics) with the addition of previously used materials such as the IEA 2020 Germany report and contributions of various researches and experts.

First, the specific negative effects of German energy transit will be outlined. In his research Renn points out the unfair distribution of wealth due to the EEG legislation: “While more than 40,000 private producers of solar energy can enjoy a guaranteed income from selling electricity that is far greater than present interest rates on capital, poorer sections of society have to pay for these guaranteed prices”. Renn O. Op. cit. P. 230. As we know from the previous subchapter, small individual installations still can become guaranteed feed-in surcharge for their electricity which is later put on the other households. This situation appears even worse if we mention how much the energy transit costs for energy consumers: for example, in 2015 consumers paid around 27 billion euros to cover the difference in market price and guaranteed price for energy producers Ibid. P. 231. . The IEA provides data on the overall amount of paid surcharge in the year 2018 to reach 25.6 billion Euros Germany 2020 Energy Policy Review // International Energy Agency. 2020. P. 94. Retrieved from https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/G/germany-2020-energy-policy-review.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4. The EEG surcharge itself in the year 2019 was 6.41 cents per kWh and has slightly decreased since 2017 when it was 6.88 cents per kWh (see Appendix 1). As we can understand from the data provided by BMWi, the surcharge itself has increased significantly since 2000, when it was first introduced in the first revision of EEG: from 0.19 cents in 2000 to 3.53 in 2011 and 6.41 in 2017 (see Appendix 1). So, the EEG and energy transitions are an additional burden on the German households. Interestingly, the IEA provides data on surcharge to reach 81 Euro for MWh in 2018, which is even bigger if we count it Germany 2020 Energy Policy Review // International Energy Agency. 2020. P. 32. . However, we can notice, that since 2017 the EEG surcharge, despite its fluctuations, has mostly remained at the same level, which is the result of successful EEG reforms in 2017 and adoption of the auction system, according to the IEA Ibid. P. 94. .

Consequently, we can also observe the rise in electricity prices in Germany. According to statistics, the overall electricity price for households in the first half of the year 2010 equaled 23.75 Eurocents for kWh, which then increased to 30.88 Eurocents for KWh in the first half of 2019 (see Appendix 2). This is almost one and a half increase in 8 years, nowadays Germany has one of the highest electricity prices in the world. According to the IEA, Germany ranked second in terms of electricity prices among all the 30 members of the organization with the price of 353 Euro for MWh Ibid. P. 135. . Electricity prices in Germany are one of the biggest indeed. For example, most EU countries have lower prices: as of 2018 Germany's price for households equaled 0.33 U.S. dollars for kWh, while in Belgium the price reached only 0.28, in Italy - 0.27 and in Portugal - 0.26 U.S. dollars Wang T. Global electricity prices in 2018, by select country in U.S. dollars per kilowatt/hour // Statista, 2018. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/263492/electricity-prices-in-selected-countries/. Comparison to the non-EU countries shows even more interesting results: the electricity price in the USA was 0.13 U.S. dollars in 2018, which is two times less. Ibid. In fact, this data confirms that energy transition is costly, even if no public spending is used to fund it. We can also take a closer look at Germany's electricity price and EEG surcharge to realize, that the surcharge constitutes for almost one-fifth of the overall price for households. Without Energiewende the energy consumers would pay around 24 Eurocents for kWh, which would be much more affordable.

However, we should not only criticize the policy but also bring in some positive aspects of it. We also need to understand how much the share of renewable energy has changed over time. To do this, we should begin by distinguishing between different energy indicators. There is a difference between gross final consumption of energy, primary energy consumption, and gross electricity consumption. The gross final energy consumption, as Eurostat states, is "the energy used by end-consumers (final energy consumption) plus grid losses and self-consumption of power plants” and is calculated and based on Directive 2009/28/EC. Share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption // Eurostat. Retrieved from: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/-/t2020_rd330 This is the indicator where each country should increase the share of renewables according to their NREAP by 2020 and as we remember, Germany should reach 20% by 2020. Primary energy consumption, in contrast, “refers to the direct use at the source, or supply to users without transformation, of crude energy, that is, energy that has not been subjected to any conversion or transformation process”. Primary energy consumption // Glossary of Statistical Terms of OECD. Retrieved from: https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=2112 Gross electricity consumption contributes to all the electricity, produced in the country plus electricity imports minus electricity exports Gross national electricity consumption // Eurostat. Retrieved from: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Glossary:Gross_national_electricity_consumption. Understanding these definitions, we can examine the evolution of these indicators by the year 2019 via data, provided by BMWi and Work Group for Renewable Energy Statistics in March 2020.

The starting point for gross final consumption of energy provided by statistics as of2004, when the share of renewables equaled 6.2% calculated both by the German federal government and by Directive 2009/28/EC legislation. From that moment on we can observe the constant increase of renewable share: for example, the share by the year 2011 reached 12.4% by federal government calculation, which means, that it doubled within 6 years. However, since 2011 the increase began to slow down: in a similar period from 2011 to 2017 the share reached only 15.9%, calculated by the federal government. The calculations of Directive 2009/28/EC legislation show even smaller results: 15.5%. As of 2019, the share of renewables reached 17.5% according to the federal government and 17.1% according to Directive 2009/28/EC. There is a noticeable discrepancy between these calculations, which can be explained by different methodic used for calculation, nonetheless taking into account the dynamic of increase, shown in the data, we cannot expect Germany to reach its NREAP target and meet the requirements of Directive 2009/28/EC. Despite it, the overall trend is very impressive and shows consistent growth, although Energiewende of 2011 and EEG 2014 and 2017 did not have a noticeable positive effect on it (see Appendix 3)

The assessment of primary energy consumption shows many similarities with gross final consumption of energy. The share of renewables contributed only to 1.3% in final consumption in 1990 and for 2.9% in 2000. In the period from 2000 to 2011, the renewable share also showed an impressive increase, reaching 10.8% by 2011 with 3.7 times growth. By 2019 the share reached 14.8%, which also indicates the slowdown in development: it grew only 1.37 times in contrast with 2011. Notably, both indicators show the same trend, which may be explained by their closeness (see Appendix 4).

The most impressive results may be observed in gross electricity consumption, which seems logical as EEG mostly covers electricity production. While in 1990 the renewables contributed only to 3.4% of consumed electricity and for 6.2% in 2000, their share grew to 20.4% in 2011 and 42.1% in 2019 (see Appendix 5). The share of renewables in electricity consumption increased more than 3 times from 2000 to 2011 and 2 times from 2011 to 2019. The slight slowdown in growth can also be outlined here, but the overall dynamic is still remarkable. Considering the data, we can assume that achievement of the goals set by EEG 2014 and 2017 revisions is very likely.

Taking account of the conducted assessment we can state, that the overall trend in energy transition remains to be the increase of renewable energy share, despite the slowdown of the process, which can be explained by the complication of keeping the same level of renewable energy. The EEG legislation may also slow down the development on purpose: with the introduction of "deployment corridors" renewable production was put under more strict conditions in deploying new facilities and plants to liberalize renewable energy prices and make it more market friendly. Thus, the ongoing effect of EEG on renewable energy share may be observed only in the new decade, as the amount of allowed installed capacity will be increased due to EEG 2017. Overall, the increase in renewable share is evident and Germany's energy strategies and policies proved to be effective. The price of this effectiveness, though, is also relatively high and was mostly put on Germany's households, as there is no public spending to fund the feed-in tariffs and renewables deployment. However, the energy transit itself is happening and going with decent speed, despite the possibility not to the reach NREAP 2020 targets.

To conclude this chapter we may state, that Germany's energy transit to renewables is based on the development of environmental movement and the rise of environmentalism in politics by establishing the Green party and evolvement of anti-nuclear movement into political power, which pushed the green agenda to become a mainstream topic of Germany's domestic politics. Nowadays no party in Germany can avoid environmental problems in their programs and actions and nuclear phase-out is inevitable, as such position in strongly supported by German society and cannot be reversed. The energy transition became an obligation since the StrEg act in 1991 and EEG in 2000 and its successors. Much effort was put into revising the legislation and making renewable energy more competitive on the market, lowering the prices for renewables. The introduction of an auction system meant more market-oriented policy in renewable energy, which means, that the German government believes it to become more competitive throughout the time. Considering certain flaws in energy policy such as increasing electricity prices and put a surcharge on the household we can still claim, that Germany's energy policy is reaching its targets, as the share of renewable sources in country's energy mix continues to grow, which makes the German economics more eco-friendly and less pollutive. Thus, Germany may be the pioneer of energy transition and one of the most successful countries in this field.

3. Green energy agenda implementation by Germany on the regional and the global levels

After examination of “Energiewende” process and its successes in Germany's domestic policy we should research, how green energy agenda is being implemented in foreign policy and which areas of Germany's international relations are covered by it. We should consider that the foreign policy is conducted on different levels: regional level which is represented by EU; bilateral interstate relations; various nongovernmental and supranational organizations and institutions. All these aspects and their connection with energy transition will be covered in this subchapter. Moreover, as our study's topic is smart power and its implementation, we also need to assess both co-optive and coercive approach of green energy promotion and how they are combined. To perform these tasks, we should first take a close look on the official statements of German governmental institutions, conducting foreign policy and promoting green energy including the Federal Foreign Office, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). By examining official statements and their publications, we can define the official Germany's position on this subject. Second, Germany's position concerning the European Union energy policy should be researched too - we need to evaluate the position of Germany in the EU's environmental lobby, what policies are being implemented at the European level and which targets Germany has there. Next, we need describe bilateral energy partnerships that Germany has with several countries: what is the main agenda of energy partnerships, how they are being conducted and which progress has been made in this field. After that, Germany's cooperation with international environmental organizations and institutions such as the International Renewable Energy Agency and the United Nation institutions should be evaluated: which role Germany plays in them, what seeks and how is perceived. Finally, we should differentiate between soft and hard measures of green energy promotion and determine in which way they are being combined in Germany's foreign policy.

It is claimed by some researchers, that energy issues, while being indisputably necessary in Germany's foreign policy, can be subdivided into 2 different approaches: the first one concerns energy security and dealing with energy imports from major partners such as Russia, and the second one, which is mostly new and based on the soft power agenda of promoting nature conservation and renewable energy sources Li L, Soft Power for Solar Power: Germany's New Climate Foreign Policy. Bonn: Germanwatch, 2016. P. 9. . The focus of this new environmentalist policy is communication on bilateral level with partner states as well throughout multilateral institutions and organizations, such as the United Nations, the Group of Seven (G7) and the European Union Ibid. .

As far as we consider German foreign policy aiming to increase its soft power in the world and strengthen its partnerships with different governmental and non-governmental actors, we can assume, that energy is mostly related to these topics. As the publication of Germanwatch states, Germany is looking for preserving climate change, because global warming may cause serious security risks and increase instability in the world, while Germany is trying to position itself as a conflict mediator and negotiator in order to both increase its global presence and prevent possible threats to the country itself. Moreover, while looking forward to settling down conflicts, Germany also wants to increase its cooperation with different countries and NGOs, thus gaining both political profits for helping others and economic gains by promoting its own technologies, giving economic aid and actively taking part in creation of infrastructure for renewable energy production Ibid. P. 11.. Institutionally, the energy policy tasks are divided between the four major German ministries: The Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Finance Ibid. P. 13. . Some non-governmental think tanks and various party-sponsored organizations also have a great influence on energy issues. The main projects of these institutions, concerning energy issues, will be discussed next in this paper.

Considering all these matters, it seems logical to divide the following chapter into three subchapters: the first one will cover the German governmental institutions, conducting foreign energy and green policy and the projects of these ministries. The second focuses on the European aspect of this policy, while the third one examines the international dimension of green policy of Germany.

3.1 German governmental institutions on foreign policy

Obviously, the foreign policy is mostly executed under the control of the Federal Foreign Office. One can notice that foreign policy topics as defined by the Federal Foreign Office include various environmental subjects, including Energy sphere, which is outlined as a specific topic of Foreign policy. It is also remarkable, that the Foreign Office often refers to Germany' domestic experience, calling energy transition “a trademark External Energy Policy // Federal Foreign Office. Retrieved from: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/themen/energie/energiesicherheit-node ”. When addressing the energy transition worldwide, the examples of Germany's achievements in this are mentioned and Germany is called “a respected dialogue partner” The Energy Transition around the World. // Federal Foreign Office. Retrieved from: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/themen/energie/energiewende-node. Moreover, it is mentioned, that other countries stand to benefit from Germany's experience. The Foreign Office managers projects of energy partnerships. They work on bilateral projects of energy transit with different countries. As Foreign Office states: “The primary goal of the energy partnerships is to support the partner country, as regards expanding renewable energies, promoting energy efficiency and the use of modern energy technologies. As a result, sustainable energy supplies are to be created in the partner country while making a contribution to climate protection.” Energy Partnerships // Federal Foreign Office. Retrieved from: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/themen/energie/energiepartnerschaften-node Thus, Germany promotes its own policies towards energy and works together with authorities of partner countries both on political and technical level to increase their renewable energy potential. Germany currently has energy partnerships with 19 countries: Algeria, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, South Korea, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates. Energy partnerships are indeed very interesting case of Germany's willingness to become a pioneer of energy transition in the world. The domestic Energiewende tends to be a legitimization of a process for promoting energy transition to different countries. In that perspective, Germany is trying to strengthen its contacts with partners to increase both political partnership and influence on decision-making process in partner countries and technical cooperation via installation of renewable infrastructure. The work of energy partnerships will be examined more closely in the subchapter 3.3.

The travelling exhibition on the German energy transition is a project designed by the Foreign Office. The exhibitions were presented in various German embassies around the world, for example, in China in 2016. As the project description states, the goal of the exhibition is to raise an awareness on the Energiewende. The Foreign Office sees it as a communication tool to promote its own green energy approach, make people aware of the subject and outline the need for further cooperation on energy transit. Interestingly, it is also stated, that consolidation of German image as a pioneering country in renewable energy is also an objective of this project Germany's energy transition road show // German Corporation for International Cooperation. Retrieved from: https://www.giz.org/en/worldwide/52970.html.

So-called “Exportschlager Stromerzeugung made in Germany” EnergieauЯenpolikitk // Federal Foreign Office. Retrieved from: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/aussenpolitik/themen/energie/energieaussenpolitik/205854 (Export hit power generation made in Germany) and Climate protection dialogue are also part of this strategy. It is a project promoting climate protection dialogue in host countries with Germany's participation. Basically, all these projects are aimed at increasing German presence in the environmentalist agenda. For example, climate protection, being financed by the Climate Fund, which is incorporated in the Foreign Office Budget, and is committed to foreign countries by the German foreign missions to communicate with the local authorities on bilateral level about promoting green agenda. Another interesting example is Environment, Conflict and Cooperation (ECC) ECC Platform. Retrieved from: https://www.ecc-platform.org/ and Climate Diplomacy platforms Climate Diplomacy. Retrieved from: https://www.climate-diplomacy.org/. These platforms are designated to raise the level of awareness on this subject on one hand and on the other hand - to position Germany in center of further energy transition. They provide information about the events, organized by German institutions and publications to the environment matters, including renewable energy. For example, the Climate Diplomacy platform has posed information about projects, sponsored by the Foreign Office Climate Fund: amongst them organization of Climate diplomacy days in 2014 and 2015 and organization of climate diplomacy week in 2016.

Federal ministry for economic cooperation and development finance (BMZ) is concentrated on different aspects of green energy agenda. For example, it provides detailed information on the financing of climate-related affairs and matters of German government. According to the BMZ site, the Federal government has spent from 2 to 4 billion dollars annually excluding public loans and private funds. For example, in 2018 3.37 billion Euros were spent by German governments, of which BMZ funding constituted for 83%, and the overall spending reached 7.08 billion Euros in total with addition of private funding Germany's contribution to international climate finance // Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved from: https://www.bmz.de/en/issues/klimaschutz/climate-finance/index.html. The BMZ spent 2.309 billion dollars in 2016 on bilateral climate investment, and the spending in multilateral funding reached even higher numbers: to Green Climate Fund of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (GCF) - 750 million dollars since 2014, to Global Environment Facility (GEF) - 20 billion dollars since 1991 and Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) - 1.2 million dollars since 2004 Financing climate action - Germany as a responsible partner // Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved from: https://www.bmz.de/de/zentrales_downloadarchiv/themen_und_schwerpunkte/klimaschutz/01_factsheets/en/BMZ_Factsheet_Klimafinanzierung_EN.pdf In the supplementary budget for 2020 German Finance Minister Scholz has increased the funding for climate action programs of the Development Ministry by 500 million euros and of the Environment Ministry by 100 million euro German government steps up international commitment to support action on climate change // Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved from: https://www.bmz.de/en/press/aktuelleMeldungen/2019/oktober/191003_German-government-steps-up-international-commitment-to-support-action-on-climate-change/index.html. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is supporting energy projects in more than 50 partner countries, as well as numerous regional and global programs. In 2009, new commitments for renewable energies and energy efficiency amounted to over EUR 1 billion. In the next five years, at least EUR 2.5 billion will be made available for renewable energies alone. The German government has agreed to make energy a priority area of cooperation with 15 countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, India, Kosovo, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, Pakistan, Senegal, Serbia, Uganda and Ukraine Energy policy - key to poverty reduction and climate protection // Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved from: https://www.bmz.de/en/issues/energie/german_engagement/index.html. The BMZ also conducts several projects in African countries; amongst them the most significant one is Green people's energy in Africa: its goal is to encourage small and medium enterprises to use green energy, create Job opportunities in energy sector and mobilize local investment. The project includes 27 different African countries and is realized via partnerships with citizens and municipalities Green People's Energy for Africa // Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved from: https://www.bmz.de/en/publications/type_of_publication/strategies/Strategiepapier395_06_2017.pdf. BMZ is also committed to a project called “Sustainable Energy for Development”, in which 50 various countries are engaged, of those 24 cooperate with Germany primary on the energy development. The project aims to increase capacity of renewable energy in partner countries to provide them with cheaper electricity and create a renewable energy infrastructure in these countries. As a BMZ report claims, from 2004 to 2011 BMZ pledged around 6 billion U.S. dollars on these projects with a significant increase in funding from 2009 to 2011, reaching almost 1.86 billion U.S. dollars in 2011 that are provided mostly via low-interest loans by the KFW Development banks and other various sources of financing Sustainable Energy for Development. German Development Cooperation in the Energy Sector // Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved from: https://www.bmz.de/en/publications/type_of_publication/information_flyer/information_brochures/Materialie235_Information_Brochure_1_2014.pdf.

As it can be seen from what is outlined before, Germany is actively cooperating with African countries. The Africa projects are mostly financed by BMZ.

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy or BMWi also takes active part in international policy on renewable energy. It carries out several projects on energy transition and renewable energy promotion. First, its publications are aimed to create an attractive and successful image of energy transit - the Ministry provides the overall information on the Energiewende and tends to present it in a positive way. For example, such publications as “Making a success of the energy transition” outline the most effective sides of the Energiewende process - the increase of renewable energy share for instance Making a success of the energy transition // Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, 2016. Retrieved from: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Publikationen/making-a-success-of-the-energy-transition.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=8. Thus, they can be perceived as agenda setting in the field of green technologies. More interestingly, BMWi also helps German renewable entrepreneurs and producers to reach foreign markets: the outgoing project “German Energy Solutions Initiative” plays here a significant role. The Initiative offers small and medium German enterprises help in entering foreign energy markets on basis of German Chambers of Commerce and DENA's (German Energy Agency) Renewable Energy Solutions Programme. Basically, they help German businesses to seek partners in foreign countries, organize exhibitions and assist in negotiations German Energy Solutions Initiative. Retrieved from: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Artikel/Foreign-Trade/german-energy-solutions-initiative.html. The Initiative's publications include information on possible ways for cooperation between German and foreign partners: which technologies can be exported and what can German companies do in addition to its clients. The Initiative includes The Project Development Programme (PDP), which operates in developing countries and helps German entrepreneurs to complete some specific energy projects in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa regions Projektopportunitдten in Entwicklungs- und Schwellenlдndern. Retrieved from: https://www.german-energy-solutions.de/GES/Redaktion/DE/Publikationen/Zur_Exportinitiative/pep_flyer_deutsch.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=2. The website of the Energy Solutions Initiative provides German companies with information on specific energy markets, their developments, positive and negative sides in various foreign countries Alle Lдnder. die Angebote der Exportinitiative. Retrieved from: https://www.german-energy-solutions.de/GES/Navigation/DE/Maerkte-Weltweit/Laender/laender.html. DENA and BMWi also promote specific companies: for example, while outlining possible advantages of renewable energies, DENA's publications promote German producers, like GmbH/ NTS Nature Technology Systems as full wind energy supplier and installer or AkoTec Produktionsgesellschaft mbH in the area of solar energy production Renewables - Made in Germany Information on technologies, suppliers, products and services // DENA and Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy 2016. Retrieved from: https://www.dena.de/fileadmin/dena/Dokumente/Pdf/9079_Flyer_Anbieterkatalog_renewables_Made_in_Germany_2016.pdf. BMWi also provides financial assistance for small and medium enterprises, which is very flexible and includes various ways to finance projects and renewables installations. The further information on financing is given in BMWi publication “Basiswissen 2020: AuЯenhandlungfinanzierung” (Basic knowledge 2020: Foreign trade financing), that outlines the specific forms of financial aid. Different financing is being offered dependent on the scale of projects and enterprises. Small German companies may rely on AKA Ausfuhrkredit-Gesellschaft m.b.H. (AKA) or HandEX GmbH, which can provide 500.000 (AKA) or 100.000 - 5 million Euro (HandEX) transactions in form of low-interest loans; Cashflow methodic is recommended to realize bigger and long-term projects for large enterprises with average project costs around 15 million Euro, which requires long-term contracts and power purchase agreements with governmental counter-agents; the financial aid of KfW Group is also possible - KfW Fцrderbank (Development bank) operating on the federal level provides loans for large enterprises with 500 Million Euro turnover with addition of Fцrderbanks of German states, who give loans to small and medium enterprises with the highest cap of 50 million Euro turnover and 250 persons staff Basiswissen 2020: AuЯenhandlungfinanzierung // Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, 2020. P. 58. Retrieved from: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Publikationen/Studien/basiswissen-2020-aussenhandelsfinanzierung.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=6 . Overall, various export projects are being realized on the basis of this Initiative and with the help of BMWi institutions. It seems impossible to list all of them, considering the scope of this research, but we can outline some of them. For instance, many projects are realized in the form of consortium: BMWi is working on creation of the German-Brazilian consortium that plans to further develop Brazilian solar and wind energy parks and increase the overall solar capacity by 1.500 MW, while also reaching 15,1 GW of installed wind capacity Unterstьtzung der Konsortialbildung. Smart Hybrid: Wind-, Solar- und Speichertechnologien in Brasilien // Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.german-energy-solutions.de/GES/Redaktion/DE/Publikationen/Kurzinformationen/Projektsteckbriefe/psb-ksb-brasilien-2019-smart-hybrid.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=5. Small scale projects are also of great interest: on the 28^th of April of 2020, the information event was organized concerning (off-grid) electrification of some Romanian villages, which aimed to create a German-Romanian consortium to realize the project. The project, financed by the Romanian environmental fund, has a budget of approximately 49 Million Euros Rumдnien Elektrifizierung Der Apuseni-Dцrfer. Retrieved from: https://www.german-energy-solutions.de/GES/Redaktion/DE/Publikationen/Marktanalysen/2020/zma-rumaenien-2020-apuseni-doerfer.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4.

In addition to promotion of German energy exports and assisting German enterprises, BMWi also takes part in German green energy policy initiatives at the European scale. The Ministry is responsible for creation of National Emission and Climate Plan (NECP), that all the member states are obliged to provide to European Commission according to new EU 2030 Energy Framework. Basically, the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plans provide information on how member states will achieve the EU 2030 targets. There is no need for deep assessment of German plans on energy transit, as we have already discussed them in the previous chapter. But we should pay attention to the fact, that Germany did not meet deadline on NECP submission: while Germany had to submit its plan until the end of 2019, there is only a draft of German NECP as of January 2019 published and no final version was submitted to that date Draft of the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan // Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, 2019. Retrieved from: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Downloads/E/draft-of-the-integrated-national-energy-and-climate-plan.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=5.

At the EU level, BMWi commits not only supranational and EU-wide policies, but also intergovernmental and bilateral agreements with other European countries. As it was covered in the previous chapter, the new 2017 EEG law introduced new auction system for companies. The new legislation also lets foreign companies to participate: 5% of renewable energy capacity may be installed in the others EU Member States. To achieve this, an agreement between Germany and partner country needs to be signed, should be “based on the principle of reciprocity”: which means, that the partner country should also open its renewable energy auctions for German entrepreneurs Auctions involving other EU states. Retrieved from: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Artikel/Energy/foerderung-fuer-den-ausbau-der-erneuerbaren.html. The pilot project of such cross-border partnership was first launched with Denmark in 2016, based on the agreement between governments. According to this agreement, the first cross-border auction launched by Germany covered a potential of 50 Mw installations of solar energy was opened for Danish bidders; Similarly, Denmark launched a 20 MW auction, of which German bidders could achieve funding for 2.4 MW energy Ibid. . As the pilot project was successful, BMWi further increased the cross-border auction legislation and made it possible for all kinds of renewable energy, not only solar: Cross-Border Renewable Energy Ordinance was included in 2017 EEG law and allowed foreign bidders to take part in all renewable bids, considering the 5% cap and further contribution of these installations to German electricity market Verordnung zur Дnderung der Grenzьberschreitenden-Erneuerbare-Energien-Verordnung (GEEV) und weiterer Verordnungen zur Fцrderung der erneuerbaren Energien. Retrieved from: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Artikel/Service/aenderungs-vo-geev.html .