Lessons from Germany’s aggressive path to integrate renewables on the grid

As policymakers in Ohio and elsewhere look to modernize their aging electric grid, concepts in Germany’s changing energy system suggest how today’s decisions can set the stage for a greater share of renewables and more energy security.  Germany has committed to reducing its reliance on fossil fuels with a shift known as the Energiewende. The country sees the shift not only as “an important energy project, but also an important economic project,” said spokesperson Beate Baron at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy in Berlin. “This of course can serve as a model for other countries as well.”  Germany and other countries, including the United States, have traditionally operated their electric grids with the view that some amount of power would always be needed as “baseload” to meet constant demands placed upon the electric system, and additional power plants would ramp up or down as necessary to meet peak power needs.