Germany will open the Arkona wind park, a giant wind farm out in the Baltic Sea. This is a joint venture of utility EON SE and Norway’s oil and gas giant Equinor. The wind farm was built in only three months and is located off the coast of Ruegen island. It is also able to generate enough power for 400,000 homes and is the largest wind farm in the Baltic.
Angela Merkel cut the ribbon for the Arkona park, saying that the project highlights how how important it is for Germany to increase renewable energy. In fact, as Bloomberg reports, the country is trying to reduce its emissions after deciding to exit coal power.
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However, since Ms. Merkel took office in 2005, emissions have not dropped much, even with clean power which generates around 40% of electricity. Specifically, Germany is EU’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter.
What is more, with temperatures rising last summer, hitting records, voters are concerned about climate change. The impact of climate change is also visible in the Rhine, Europe’s busiest river, which recorded near-record lows, hampering oil and coal transport.
Now, Germany must consider how to put a price on carbon output in sectors outside the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, including the ‘sleeping giant’ of emissions from transportation, Angela Merkel mentioned.
