Following talks that concluded early on Wednesday morning, it has emerged that German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck a deal with German state leaders to slow the expansion of the country’s renewable energy portfolio.
In recent years, Germany has been undertaking what they have called an Energiewende (energy transition), a policy passed back in 2010 that involves working to meet targets of greenhouse gas emissions reduction of around 85% by 2050.
Part of the Energiewende also involves the aim of making Germany’s energy mix 60% renewable by the same year, and 40-45% by 2025. According to figures from clean energy think tank Agora Energiewende, about 33% of Germany’s energy came from renewable sources last year. This was helped by around 3.5 gigawatts worth of new onshore wind power being built over the course of the year.
However, following the meeting this week, Merkel and leaders of Germany’s 16 states agreed to place a cap on the amount of new wind and solar power sources being built. The aim is to keep costs for consumers at a reasonable level and to allow the grid to cope with the rate at which new generators are being added.
Earlier in May, due to particularly high levels of wind and sun, renewable energy sources in Germany produced unexpectedly high levels of power, turning commercial electricity prices negative for a time as the overburdened grid failed to handle the massively increased capacity.
Prior to the meeting, which began on Tuesday, the Christian Democrat leader Volker Kauder said that while the push for the creation of increased renewable energy in Germany, which began with the renewable energy act (EEG [Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz]) back in 2000, had “good intentions” at its core, it is now time to take into account more pragmatic considerations.
“It must be clear” he said, “network expansion, connection and power must be brought together”.
The subsidies given to renewable generators as part of the EEG are worth around €25 billion, a bill footed by consumers.
Part of the problem, said Merkel, is that the current speed at which renewable generators are being built is faster than the speed at which the energy generated can be sent to homes, given the size and capacity of existing power lines, and so consumers are arguably not getting their money’s worth.
As such, following the meeting, the German leaders agreed to limit construction of new onshore wind farms across the country so that no more than 2.8GW worth of new capacity is created each year.
Additionally, new solar power will be limited to 600MW worth of capacity, and a no more onshore wind farms will be built in North Germany for the time being.
In order to become legislature, these proposals must be considered by the German cabinet, and this process is expected to last until 2017.
