EC approves Germany's EUR-28bn renewable energy scheme

The European Commission (EC) today approved Germany's EUR-28-billion (USD 29.67bn) scheme aimed at supporting the deployment of renewable energy to boost its share to 80% of the electricity mix by 2030.

The EEG 2023 support scheme provides financial incentives for renewable energy projects in the form of market premiums and feed-in tariffs awarded in auctions. With the latest scheme, Germany plans to hold more tenders targeting bigger capacities for rooftop and ground-mounted solar, onshore wind and biomethane plants as well as innovation projects.

To make the auctions more competitive and avoid undersubscription, a mechanism will be introduced to adjust the capacities tendered in innovation, solar photovoltaic and biomethane auctions.

In addition, regional measures should be taken to support power generation from onshore wind, biomass and biomethane in the south of the country where deployment costs are high and demand for electricity is strong.

The EU regulator gave the green light also to the changes planned to the EUR-1.5-billion support scheme for offshore energy. Germany, which seeks to have at least 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 70 GW by 2040, plans to introduce a new tender procedure that will allow developers to compete for sites in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that have not been centrally pre-investigated by the federal government. This measure is meant to accelerate the installation of generation capacity at sea.

The two schemes will be available until the end of 2026.

The Commission found that the measures are appropriate and necessary to support renewable energy and grid stability. The authority considers that the positive effects of the measures will be more than the potential negative effects on competition.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.060)

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