The German government is proposing a cut of 15% on the subsidies it gives solar-power providers, Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said Wednesday, reflecting what the government deems the sector's success, but the move drew sharp criticism from the industry.
The German government is proposing a cut of 15% on the subsidies it
gives solar-power providers, Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said
Wednesday, reflecting what the government deems the sector's success, but the
move drew sharp criticism from the industry.
This one-time cut is set to come into force in April for roof installations and
in July for open field sites. Both cuts come in addition to an annual decline
in subsidies that is already dictated by
Germany
's
Renewable Energy Act.
"The reduction in subsidies is a response to the success of
photovoltaic," Roettgen said.
German Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle said Tuesday the feed-in tariffs
that oblige utilities to pay a set rate for electricity generated by solar
installations ought to be brought closer in line with market forces.
In addition to the proposed 15% cut, the government plans a further 10% cut in
subsidies for German farmland installations, Roettgen said. Subsidies for
personal use of solar power, on the other hand, are set to be raised.
The annual decline in subsidies is set to remain in place, Roettgen said. However,
the government foresees a further 2.5% cut, if installations exceed 3,500
megawatts in 12 months. Another 2.5% cut is planned for all further 1,0000 MW.
Joachim Pfeiffer, lawmaker and economic spokesman for the ruling conservative
parties' parliamentary group in the lower house, said changes are necessary to
boost competition and end over-subsidy of the industry.
"We will have to examine in the legislative procedure whether the
proposals by the Environment Ministry are sufficient to prevent an excess in
subsidies and at the same time give incentives for innovations," Pfeiffer
said. "Excess subsidies must be cut back."
Lawmakers can make amendments to bills in the lower house of parliament.
The Federation of Renewable Energy, or BEE, however, sharply criticized the
plan. The new cuts, along with existing cuts implemented at the beginning of
this year and cuts scheduled for early 2011, mean solar energy subsidies will
be cut by one third.
"The solar industry can't handle this," the group said in a
statement. "These proposed cuts shake the German solar industry's core and
therefore the start into an age of renewable. If the environment minister wants
to be able to implement his ambitious plans to nearly fully convert
Germany
's
energy supply into renewable energies by 2050, he has to provide reliable
subsidy conditions instead of unsettling investors."
The German center-right government wants renewable energy to account for the
lion's share of the country's energy supply, although a precise time frame for
achieving this goal hasn't been provided yet.
As part of
Germany
's
energy mix, Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed Wednesday that the government
will extend the life spans of nuclear power plants, abandoning the existing
policy under which all of
Germany
's 17
remaining reactors will have to be shut down by around 2021.
Διαβάστε ακόμα
Τετ, 16 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 20:09
Τετ, 16 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 20:06
Τρι, 15 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 17:24
Τρι, 15 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 17:21
Δευ, 14 Οκτωβρίου 2024 - 18:15