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Wind turbines in Brandenburg (archive): The local community is to receive 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour per year and system
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Patrick Pleul / dpa
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier wants to achieve a faster expansion of green electricity through incentives.
A current draft bill for a reform of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), on which the "taz" had previously reported, provides that citizens and local communities will be financially involved in new wind turbines in the future.
Even with higher volume targets, the CDU politician wants to accelerate the recently faltering expansion of renewable energies.
By 2030, 65 percent of the electricity in Germany should come from renewable energies.
"Some of the expansion targets are even more ambitious than those regulated in the 2030 climate protection program in order to create additional security when the 65 percent expansion target is achieved," it says.
But so far the expansion of wind energy in Germany has stalled.
The main obstacles are long approval procedures, a lack of space, protests and lawsuits from residents and nature conservationists.
Energy associations and climate protectors have repeatedly criticized the slow implementation of plans for faster expansion.
Now the expansion of onshore wind energy is to be increased significantly.
On average, plants with a capacity of four gigawatts are to be built in the coming years.
So that more wind turbines can also be built in less profitable locations, especially in the south, there should be a "southern quota" of 15 percent in tenders until 2023, after which it will increase to 20 percent.
In addition, operators of new wind turbines are to pay the local community 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour per year for the amount of electricity actually fed in.
According to the BMWi, this can mean additional income of 20,000 euros per year for a municipality.
Costs should remain limited in favor of lower electricity prices
The draft states that since the municipalities can best assess how the funds can best be used locally, no purpose is expressly specified.
The direct payments to municipalities are intended to create incentives so that new areas for wind energy can be designated on site.
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At the same time, the local communities are to be compensated for impairments, for example in terms of the landscape.
Lower public electricity tariffs are planned for residents.
For the first time, there will also be regulations for old systems, whose 20-year funding will expire via guaranteed purchase prices from 2021.
To prevent their demolition, there should be a regulation for smaller systems that they can continue to sell their electricity to the network operator at market prices.
The draft also states that the costs for the expansion of renewable energies must remain limited "in the interest of an inexpensive energy supply and affordable electricity prices".
The coalition had already decided that the EEG surcharge that customers pay with their electricity bills will decrease.
The newly installed capacity is also expected to increase with solar energy.
According to the draft, large solar systems on supermarkets or other commercial roofs with an output of more than 500 kilowatts are now being funded through tenders.
Solar energy should play a bigger role
Up until now there were fixed purchase prices for electricity from roofs, which are now only intended to apply to smaller areas.
The aim of the tenders is to build up a certain amount of electrical power.
Those who demand the lowest subsidies for their projects are awarded the contract.
In total, new solar energy with an output of 4.6 to 5.6 gigawatts is to be connected to the grid every year until 2030.
The last time it was around four gigawatts in 2019.
In Germany, the last nuclear power plant will be shut down by the end of 2022, and the climate-damaging coal-fired power generation is to be ended by 2038 at the latest.
Without a faster expansion of renewable energies, climate protectionists believe that climate targets will be missed.
According to the draft, the EEG aims to anchor all electricity in Germany to be greenhouse gas neutral by 2050.
"This applies to both the electricity generated here and the electricity consumed here."
In 2035, renewable energies are expected to provide 65 percent of German electricity consumption.
In 2019 the share was around 40 percent, but it has increased further this year.
In order to achieve the target of 65 percent, expansion volumes are to be determined by 2028.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs points out in the draft, however, that further courses must be set in order to achieve the expansion target.
It must be made possible for wind turbines to be able to make use of an exemption under species protection law.
However, this is controversial within the federal government.
The draft is now being coordinated by departments.
The EEG reform is scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2021.
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apr / dpa / Reuters
