Germany Raises Renewable Energy Targets

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Germany's government has announced changes to its Renewable Energy Sources Act for 2012 that will see the country aim to generate up to 40% of its energy from renewables.

In addition to raising the bar for renewable energy, the government has committed to raising or maintaining the existing tariff scheme for a number of key renewable energy technologies. The Upper Parliament has voted to support the changes proposed by the lower house, or Bundestag, at the end of June.

The proposed changes to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), which was first introduced in 2000, comes a few months after Germany committed to a fast exit from the nuclear energy sector. Germany's decision came as a direct result of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan in March, which suffered explosions and leaks following a massive earthquake and tsunami. In May, despite one of the strongest proponents of nuclear power in Europe, Germany surprised the industry when it reversed its support for nuclear power by announcing its intention to shut all 17 of its reactors before 2022. For additional information, see May 30, 2011, article - Germany Votes to Dump Nuclear Power.

That decision has pushed renewable energy to the fore and the changes to the Act support its more important role going forward. The 2012 amendments call for renewables to account for not less than 35% of the electricity generated by 2020, rising to 50% or more by 2030, 65% or more by 2040 and 80% or higher by 2050.

To help it get there, the changes include raising the tariffs for offshore wind by 15% to €0.15 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) ($0.21 per kWh) while maintaining the current tariffs for onshore wind. The special 'starter bonus' for offshore wind will be raised by 25%. Biomass tariffs are set to be raised by 30% for smaller plants of no more than 150 kW in size, while tariffs for all geothermal projects are projected to grow by up to 50% in some instances. With Germany already Europe's largest solar power producer, solar will continue to play a key role, despite significant cuts to the tariff structure. A reduced goal of 3,500 megawatts (MW) per year has been set before increased tariff cuts will apply.

It should be noted that while renewable energy is slated to play a dominant role in the future of Germany's energy mix, more coal- and gas-fired plants will be needed in the short term to help plug the gap left by shutting down the nuclear power plants. In June, the country's leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel, announced that up to 20,000 MW of fossil-fuelled plants--mainly gas-fired--would be needed by 2020. For additional information, see June 16, 2011, article - Germany Needs 20 Gigawatts of Fossil-Fuel Power Plants.

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