Tuesday

28th Mar 2023

Germany to cut solar energy subsidies

  • Germany to cut solar energy subsidy and channel some of the funds to wind energy (Photo: Brookhaven National Laboratory)

Germany's solar power industry could cool as Berlin plans to cut subsidies in a sector whose energy capacity output has more than doubled the government’s projected target.

German authorities want to slash up to 30 percent of the industry’s subsidies they claim is increasing the surcharge paid by consumers and taking funding away from other renewable energy sectors like wind.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen and Economy Minister Philipp Roesler will present their plans on the cuts on Thursday (23 February) around noon.

Despite last year’s subsidy cuts, around 7.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar panels, the equivalent of six nuclear power stations, were installed in December alone resulting in €8 billion of state funding to the industry. A policy that guarantees a fixed price for the next twenty years helped entice investors to construct the photovoltaic stations.

Germany wants to reduce yearly installations down to a solar energy output between 2.5 GW to 3.5 GW. The aim is to reach 66 GW by 2030 and completely phase out its dependence on nuclear energy by 2022.

Currently at 25 GW, Germany has the world’s largest solar power capacity yet only generates around 3 percent of its electricity. The OECD says total renewable energy subsidies in Denmark are about half of Germany's yet it generates 30 percent of Danish electricity as opposed to 20 percent in Germany.

Germany’s solar energy industry claims the cuts and China’s rising competition could provoke layoffs among the 120,000 who work in the sector.

"Further drastic cuts in support for solar power are not viable. In addition, they endanger Germany’s access to one of the world’s largest future-oriented markets and pose a real risk to the transformation of the energy system as well as to over 100,000 jobs in Germany," said a statement made by the German Solar Industry Association in January.

Sahara wind and sun to power EU homes

This year, somewhere in Morocco, work will begin on the construction of what is to become a vast network of solar and wind energy farms in the Sahara to provide 15 percent of Europe's electricity.

The growing pains of the solar industry

The solar industry is in disarray. But, experts say, this is nothing out of the ordinary. It is just going through a painful but necessary process.

Opinion

EU's new critical raw materials act could be a recipe for conflict

Solar panels, wind-turbines, electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies require minerals including aluminium, cobalt and lithium — which are mined in some of the most conflict-riven nations on earth, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, and Kazakhstan.

Latest News

  1. Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity
  2. Finnish elections and Hungary's Nato vote in focus This WEEK
  3. EU's new critical raw materials act could be a recipe for conflict
  4. Okay, alright, AI might be useful after all
  5. Von der Leyen pledges to help return Ukrainian children
  6. EU leaders agree 1m artillery shells for Ukraine
  7. Polish abortion rights activist vows to appeal case
  8. How German business interests have shaped EU climate agenda

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  5. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023
  6. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us