Berlin

Sector: Municipal Government

Population:

> About 3.5 million

Carbon Footprint:

> 37,648,167 metric tonnes CO₂e (2004)

TARGETS

> Reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2010 on 1990 levels
> Encourage use of performance contracting (ESCOs) in private buildings and facilities

Achievements

> 14% reduction in community CO₂e emissions between 1990 and 2002

Benefits

> Energy efficiency programs have resulted in relief for the municipal budget of almost €2 million per year

Low Carbon Solutions

Background

With a population of almost 3.5 million, Berlin is the largest city in Germany, and one of the sixteen regional States (Bundesländer) of the Federal Republic of Germany. The State Senate is the main authority for the city and is divided into a number of administrative departments, including the State Senate for Urban Development, which is responsible for climate change issues. Thus far, the city has made significant progress in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. Having set a reduction goal of 25% by 2010 on 1990 levels, the city had already made a 15% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2000.

There are three main sources for Berlin’s historic emission reductions. The first comes from the decline in industrial activity in the city after the fall of the Berlin wall, the second comes from fuel switching - from coal to natural gas and from coal to district heating based on combined heat and power (CHP), and the third comes from modernization of building stock throughout the city. As well, the city has made significant progress in increasing the production of renewable energy.

One of the most important measures that has allowed Berlin to reduce its emissions is fuel switching. This began in the early 1990s when the city established large subsidies for apartment buildings to make the switch from coal to natural gas, or to district heating. In addition, when Berlin decided to privatize the local heating and electrical utilities it made agreements with the purchasers to ensure that they would support energy efficiency and renewable projects. As part of this initiative, around €50 million have been put into these programs in the last several years, and a number of new gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plants have been built. This includes a gas steam turbine plant with 380 MW of output that went online in 1996, and has allowed for the avoidance of 1 million tonnes of CO₂ per year.

The first measures of the Berlin Energy Plan were implemented in 1995, which was the same year that the first Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Kyoto Protocol was held in Berlin. This international meeting enabled a further push for local policy on the issue of climate change.

There was a conservative government in Germany in early 1990s, and though Berlin began to establish emission reduction programs, there was little federal policy to force the climate issue. This changed in 1998 with the election of the Red/Green government who established a number of measures to encourage increased energy efficiency and the uptake of renewables. These federal programs have greatly influenced Berlin’s local actions, and the framework conditions have been improved even further by the climate change policies of the European Union, and the new emissions trading scheme.

In the late 1990s, in the face of a very tight budgetary position, Berlin needed to find an alternative to subsidies in order to keep the city on target to meeting its goals for reduced energy use in public buildings. As a solution, the Berlin Energy Agency developed and implemented the Energy Saving Partnership. Under this program partnerships are developed with energy service companies (ESCOs) who take responsibility for financing energy efficiency improvements in a number of buildings over a period of 10-15 years. The ESCOs guarantee a certain amount of cost savings for the City of Berlin and the rest of the savings are used to refinance the ESCO’s investments.

In addition to its emission reduction and energy efficiency goals, Berlin set a target of doubling the use of renewables within the city between 1999 and 2000. This required a doubling in the share of solar energy, because there was no space for the construction of wind turbines within the city boundaries.

In 1997 Berlin developed an agreement with local energy companies to support the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, this ‘CO₂ and Solar Initiative of Berlin Business’ called for the installation of solar collectors on 75 % of all new buildings. In addition, since 2000 there has also been a renewable law on the federal level which guarantees rate of about 50 cents per kWh for PV electricity that is fed into the grid. This fixed price has meant that investors feel safe purchasing solar plants, and has resulted in the annual production of more than 5 MW of solar power in Berlin.

The Berlin Senate has also subsidised the installation of solar equipment in blocks of flats built before the end of 1990. Solar thermal equipment receives a 30% subsidy under this program, and thus far 42,000 square meters of solar thermal plants have been installed in the city.

Much of the emission reductions in Berlin are closely tied to the city’s history of separation and reunification. After the division of the two parts of Berlin in 1949, and the building of the Wall in 1961, West Berlin became disconnected from the national electricity grid, and was forced to become energy self sufficient. In order to conserve resources, the west developed incentives for the use of combined heat and power, and district heating. This led to the development of the largest district heating system in Europe, and created a legacy of energy efficiency.

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, there was a decision to make an Energy Plan for the reunified city. At the same time, the non-profit Climate Allianz was founded in Berlin which had the goal of reducing CO₂ emissions in a number of European cities by 50% over the next 20 years. To achieve this ambitious goal, even with a strong emphasis on energy efficiency, Berlin would have had make a complete switch from oil and coal to natural gas within 20 years. The decision was therefore made to set a more realistic goal of a 25% reduction by 2010, and the Energy Plan was set up in 1994 to guide the city’s emission reduction measures.

The city of Berlin has implemented a wide-scale modernization program for public and privately owned apartments. The measures undertaken include improved insulation, district heating, efficient design and construction, and the installation of photovoltaic cells. In total, 600,000 apartments have been modernized in the last 15 years, around one-third of apartment buildings in Berlin, representing more than a 50% reduction in energy use. Berlin has also established the ‘ImpulsE’ programme to disseminate knowledge on energy saving technologies, and practical measures to improve energy efficiency.

To further improve the economics of the energy saving measures, buildings with different levels of energy consumption are pooled together. This model has been highly successful, the program started with two pools of about 50 buildings in 1990 and now covers about 20 pools of 1,500 public buildings in Berlin. There is a European-wide bidding process for the energy service contracts, and the companies managing the projects include multinationals such as Honeywell and Johnson Controls. The average savings achieved through these initiatives have been 25 % of energy costs, and have provided a net relief of the municipal budget of almost €2 million per year. In the long term, Berlin hopes to see the uptake of this successful ESCO model in private sector buildings.

The Reichstag, Berlin - Home of the German Parliament. One of many buildings in the city equipped with Solar Cells. ©Eddie Parker

GSW Headquarters, Berlin.
Has undergone extensive modernisation since reunification.

Despite being a bustling city, Berlin aims to reduce its greenhouse gases 25% by 2010 on 1990 levels. ©Eddie Parker

PV Installations in Berlin are increasingly common due to the commitment to reduce energy use in public buildings.
©Eddie Parker