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EEG amendment: why the climate targets are on the brink

2020-09-01T20:18:39.213Z


The EEG amendment could decide whether Germany will meet the climate targets for 2030. Union politicians are now also pushing for more incentives for small solar systems and wind energy on land in order to save the energy transition.


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Wind turbines in front of the cooling towers of the brown coal power plant in Jänschwalde in Brandenburg.

Photo: Z1022 Patrick Pleul / dpa

About a year ago the federal government presented its climate protection package in the "Futurium" in Berlin opposite the main station.

Hundreds of thousands protested at a huge climate demo for a quick end to the fossil fuel age and the disappointment about the government paper was great.

Climate researchers and activists consider the program with which the government wants to reduce its CO2 emissions to zero by 2050 as a "clear political failure".

Despite all the criticism, Angela Merkel's cabinet is working on its implementation.

Now that the Climate Protection Act has been passed and a climate council has been set up, it is the turn of the energy transition.

In order for the share of green electricity to rise to 65 percent in the next ten years - as envisaged in the climate package - the government intends to adopt a reform of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) by the end of the year.

A first draft from the CDU-led Federal Ministry of Economics is already in circulation: After that, the government reaffirms the goal of producing all German electricity by 2050 without CO₂.

Finally concrete figures

The draft now gives precise figures for the expansion of wind and solar systems: by 2030, solar energy is to grow to 100 gigawatts, wind energy to 71 gigawatts and biomass should then be slightly more than 8 gigawatts with an installed capacity.

After all, the numbers are the maximum quantities indicated in the climate package - there, solar was only 98 gigawatts and wind was given a range of 67 to 71 gigawatts.

The ministry headed by Minister of Economic Affairs Altmaier is thus signaling that it wants to get serious about the energy transition.

But it is already foreseeable that the expansion figures will hardly be sufficient to achieve the 2030 climate targets.

Energy experts are extremely skeptical: "Energy consumption will rise sharply by 2030, if only because we have more electric cars on the streets and we need a lot of renewable energy to produce hydrogen," says Thorsten Lenck from the Agora Energiewende think tank.

It is to be foreseen that the 65 percent target will not be achieved with the planned expansion for wind and sun.

The energy transition will fail without acceptance

Lenck warns that this also means that an important item in CO₂ savings is no longer applicable.

"For 65 percent of renewables by 2030, you need at least five gigawatts of new wind energy on land and six gigawatts of photovoltaics every year."

That is a total of around twenty gigawatts more than in Altmaier's design - and at least the capacity of almost 25 lignite blocks.

The Greens in the Bundestag are also calling for much higher expansion targets with six gigawatts per year for wind and ten for photovoltaics.

But there is not only a dispute about the bare numbers.

Because at the moment there are less problems with the goals than with what is actually being built.

So far this year a little over 0.8 gigawatts of capacity has been installed in onshore wind energy and in 2019 only one gigawatt was added.

The official target, however, is almost three gigawatts.

So goals are all well and good, but often remain unfulfilled in terms of climate protection.

Homeowners at a disadvantage

The so-called "prosumers", the homeowners who have their own solar energy system on the roof, also swear nothing good.

For many plants, funding will expire in 2021 after 20 years.

The new rules could cost many owners more than they earn with the systems.

Even the current EEG draft from the Ministry of Economic Affairs does not provide a remedy: The system owners should feed all their electricity into the grid and then buy it back through the grid operator.

If you don't want that, you have to get a smart meter - an intelligent electricity meter.

However, this costs up to 100 euros per year plus acquisition costs - and could make small systems unprofitable.

Plant operators and green electricity associations want to protest against this with a list of signatures on Thursday in front of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

You want a cost-effective self-supply with solar power.

Even Union politicians see that the "prosumers" are important to make the energy transition attractive to citizens and thus create more acceptance.

An internal paper of the "Climate Circle" of the Union faction in the Bundestag under the leadership of the Bundestag member Anja Weisgerber (CSU) demands that the smart meters for small systems should be subsidized.

However, this is only a "collection of ideas", Weisgerber rows back on request.

She is satisfied with the draft bill: After all, there are now "clear perspectives for post-EEG systems".

This is an important step for the energy transition. 

Tripped yourself up: the 1000 meter rule

Thorsten Lenck from Agora Energiewende, however, does not see the problem of self-sufficiency as solved: "Politicians should ensure that photovoltaic systems that have been paid for can continue to be operated and not become uneconomical due to expensive electricity meters".

In the case of small photovoltaic systems for self-consumption - regardless of whether they are old or new - the network operators should bill the electricity consumption as a lump sum instead of considering each household individually.

"These decentralized systems make a big contribution to the fact that wind and solar are popular with the people," says Lenck.

Wind power is also about acceptance.

Here the new EEG draft made suggestions that wind farm operators transfer a small part of their proceeds directly to the municipalities.

Cheaper electricity tariffs for residents should also help fewer citizens to complain against the wind turbines.

That is going in the right direction, says Lenck.

"Ultimately, however, you need sufficient space on which wind turbines can be built in a legally secure manner."

CSU climate politician Weisgerber also booked the new incentives for onshore wind as the first success.

The paper of their climate group goes even further.

The currently valid 1000-meter distance rule for wind turbines could also be undercut through bureaucratic relief and funding of citizens' energy cooperatives.

The fact that CSU politicians are now calling for a rule that their party has invented to be circumvented is not without a certain irony.

Obligation for solar systems in new buildings?

The CSU MPs' paper also sounds greener than black when it comes to solar energy: the conservative MPs are calling for solar systems to be installed in new buildings.

There must be funding programs for this.

Environmental groups and the Greens want that too.

However, nothing of this can be read in the current draft either.

The fact that the rifts in climate policy now run not only between the parties, but also through the parliamentary groups, is at least an indication of the significance the issue has now gained.

According to Anja Weisgerber, the climate group in the Union has existed since 2017. There are now around 60 members - almost a quarter of the parliamentary group.

It is unclear whether they can prevail.

On September 23, the cabinet wants to vote on the EEG amendment.

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Source: spiegel

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