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LNG terminal on Rügen shut down – ice cover blocks access for LNG tankers
Due to excessively thick ice, no LNG tankers can currently call at the terminal off Rügen. The Prorer Wiek bay and the port of Mukran are completely frozen over. This makes the shipping channel unsafe to navigate. Without safe passage, there can be no arrivals and no regular shipping operations at the terminal. (nordkurier: 06.02.26)
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Small and medium-sized businesses attack Chancellor Merz – “sheer horror” at economic policy
Christoph Ahlhaus, chairman of the German Association of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses and a member of the CDU, has written a strongly worded letter to Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The letter expresses his “utter dismay” at the state of Germany’s economy. Ahlhaus is thus making it publicly clear that small and medium-sized businesses consider Merz’s economic
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ZF immediately halts sales of e-bike drive system – Centrix system loses key customers
ZF is pulling the plug on its e-bike business. The company is suspending sales of its drive systems with immediate effect after losing a major customer, Raymon. This drive system was intended to open up a new business area for ZF. The company aimed to become less dependent on the volatile automotive sector and gain
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ACC halts Gigafactory in Kaiserslautern – Battery joint venture finally pulls the plug
Battery manufacturer ACC, a joint venture between automotive and energy companies Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, and TotalEnergies, has definitively abandoned its plans for a gigafactory in Kaiserslautern. At the same time, the consortium is also canceling the battery factory in Termoli, Italy. This effectively ends a project in Kaiserslautern that was intended to provide a boost to
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District heating suppliers plan to eliminate subsidies for heat pumps in their service areas.
Cities and municipal utilities are planning multi-billion-euro projects for new district heating networks, investing long-term in pipelines, transfer stations, and generation capacity. At the same time, operators are increasingly concerned that they will lose customers. Many property owners might opt for their own heat pumps even before the pipelines are completed, because the subsidies are
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Stellantis abandons its electric car strategy – €22 billion write-down
Stellantis is restructuring its powertrain strategy, and the €22 billion write-down marks the price of this change. CEO Antonio Filosa wants to offer fewer pure electric vehicles and more hybrids because, according to the company, it needs to reconnect with its customers. Filosa says that under his predecessor, the “pace of the energy transition was
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Is the state allowed to confiscate private provisions such as emergency power supplies and provisions in the event of a blackout?
In Germany, a prolonged blackout typically triggers a state of emergency under state law, as hazard prevention and disaster relief are primarily the responsibility of the individual states. A state of emergency can be declared very quickly, as soon as the situation becomes unmanageable with local resources. Upon declaration of a state of emergency, authorities
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Groß-Gerau rejects 2.5 billion euro data center due to terror threat and heat stress
The town of Groß-Gerau has rejected Vantage Data Centers’ €2.5 billion data center, primarily because it cites the threat of terrorism, cyberattacks, and hybrid threats as risks, while also fearing increased local heat stress from building blocks up to 30 meters high. Furthermore, the municipality questioned the reliability of the business tax revenue and criticized
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Green electricity in abundance – why more and more operators are switching off their solar power plants
Germany is reporting record wind and solar power output, but at the same time a new problem is growing. Operators are increasingly taking plants offline voluntarily, even though production would be clean and cheap. This is because on many days the market tips into oversupply, and wholesale prices plummet. This surplus alters the incentives for
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Poverty statistics 2025 – 13.3 million people in Germany at risk of poverty
The new poverty statistics paint a stark picture, as poverty continues to spread. In Germany, around 13.3 million people were considered at risk of poverty in 2025. This corresponds to 16.1 percent of the population. In 2024, the figure was 15.5 percent. The figures come from data on income and living conditions provided by the
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North Sea Summit: Offshore wind power is supposed to make electricity cheaper – but reality speaks against it
The North Sea Summit in Hamburg touted offshore wind as a recipe for affordable electricity. But the narrative crumbled shortly afterward. Costs are rising, the necessary grids are lacking, and the industry is demanding further government subsidies. As always, the political rhetoric sounds grander than what the system can deliver. North Sea Summit: Big Promises
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IEA chief Birol calls Germany’s nuclear phase-out a “historic mistake”
Fatih Birol considers Germany’s dual strategy risky, as the country is phasing out coal and nuclear power while simultaneously aiming to remain an industrial powerhouse. The head of the International Energy Agency calls it a “historic mistake.” At the same time, he is hoping for a change of course under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, because Merz
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Feed-in tariffs are set to fall from 2027 – why private solar roofs are suddenly becoming a risk
The fixed feed-in tariff has made solar expansion on German rooftops predictable. This safety net for new solar installations is set to disappear in 2027. Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) and Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) are announcing contracts for difference (CfDs) as a replacement. At the same time, EU approval for the current solar
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Breakthrough in synthetic kerosene – microbes produce 36 times more fuel
Aircraft need energy-dense fuels, which is why batteries will play a minor role for the foreseeable future. Research is searching for alternatives to petroleum-based kerosene. Now, teams at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have reported a breakthrough: They are cultivating microbes that produce precursors for aviation fuel in the laboratory up to 36 times more
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Neustadt in Holstein – 10,000 people affected by power outage lasting several hours
Neustadt in Holstein experienced a power outage lasting several hours on February 2, 2026. Daily life was abruptly disrupted. Large parts of the town were affected, as well as Pelzerhaken and Rettin. Up to 10,000 residents were left without electricity. Anyone who wanted to pay, work, or communicate suddenly encountered limitations. (welt: 02.02.26) Neustadt in