German govt approves plan for wind, solar push

The German cabinet on Wednesday passed the so-called EEG-Easter package of provisions that set more ambitious targets and provide the regulatory framework for boosting the share of renewables to 80% of the country's gross electricity consumption by 2030.

The more than 500-page paper introduces measures meant to boost the volume of wind and solar tenders, make new areas available for solar plants and wind turbines, remove hurdles and accelerate the approval processes for new projects.

To achieve the climate targets, Germany will raise the tender volume for onshore wind to 10 GW per year, compared with 4 GW in 2022, so that a total of 115 GW of onshore capacity is installed in Germany by 2030. Solar capacity to be auctioned by the Federal Network Agency is planned to grow to 22 GW per year so that the total solar output in the country reaches 215 GW by the end of the decade.

Offshore wind capacity should grow to 30 GW in 2030 and reach 70 GW in 2045.

The new legislation provides also better framework conditions for rooftop photovoltaic (PV) plants through the introduction of a bundle of measures such as a subsidy of up to EUR 0.138 (USD 0.151) per kWh for systems without self-consumption.

Commenting on the planned measures, economy minister Robert Habeck said that the Easter package will accelerate the expansion of renewable energy, almost doubling its share in gross electricity consumption within less than a decade. The changes will create the prerequisites for Germany's energy security and independence and lay the foundation for the country's climate neutrality.

The expansion of green energy in Germany was part of the coalition agreement of the current government but the targets were further increased in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine in a bid to ditch Russian fuel imports.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.092)

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