Renewable Energies as an Opportunity
Investments and the Electricity Supply of the FutureMunich, 13 January 2011 – At the New Year reception with important representatives from business, finance and industry WTS World Tax Service discussed the following topic: Energy supply on the basis of renewable energies is no longer a mere ecological necessity. Economic benefits and technological innovation provide the basis for a sustainable economic growth. Not least because investments are very promising. According to energy expert Prof. Dr. Hoffschmidt even in the age of renewable energies shortages of supply and a possible blackout are still an issue.
With its start of the New Year WTS did not only intend to commence the New Year with a good start but the largest German tax consulting firm is looking into one of the most central issues of the future: How can a secure and sustainable electricity supply be ensured? "Meeting the energy demand in a sustainable way is one of the key issues of the future. Our solutions on this issue will have a decisive impact on our lives, the lives of our children and the future of our entire planet," said Fritz Esterer, CEO of WTS AG Steuerberatungsgesellschaft.
Both fossil and nuclear energies are limited and renewable energies are still too expensive. It is important to expand renewable energies. Prolonging the life span of nuclear power plants, though, is an impediment to the expansion of renewable energies, and the social acceptance of nuclear power is declining more and more.
The modernisation of the energy supply systems is a fundamental prerequisite for the further growth of renewable energies. For offshore expansion and the replacement of power plants grid expansion is an essential requirement, though. So far it has met with considerable opposition.
This has given rise to the issue of supply shortages in Germany. Mr Hoffschmidt, Co-director of Solar Research at the German Aerospace Centre and Managing Director of IA Tech GmbH, is now asking the provocative energy question: What could a total blackout in the energy supply mean to Germany? Might a blackout be necessary in order to trigger a sustainable process of rethinking in our society? The energy issue can definitely be solved by accepting compromises and incurring costs.
Renewable energies, however, are not only about supply and environmental protection. They also offer a high savings potential. When looking into the option of "less energy or a different energy" tax considerations might be useful. This is also true for the decision about investments in new plants and processes. Isolated individual measures only have a limited effect in terms of time and scope, tough. Energy efficiency and energy taxation can be designed in a much better way if the organisational structure of a business is aligned with its overall energy-political strategy. At best the energy and electricity tax burden of a business can be reduced by up to 90 per cent.
In particular all wind power is one of the modern, sustainable and efficient energy sources. Today more than 100,000 people are already employed in the wind energy sector. In this context Northern Germany is the pioneer region for the utilization of wind power as a regenerative energy source.
"Especially in connection with foreign and offshore activities the fiscal authorities can create either beneficial or adverse conditions. Those active outside the national borders enter high risks, also from a tax point of view“, says Eva Doyé, lawyer and tax consultant as well as head of the WTS Hamburg office. "For investors not only the legal form but also the investment and financing structure as well as depreciation options are decisive."
Photos are not copyrighted when printed together with this press release and TOMA-Solar is quoted as the source.
