German government approves draft law to accelerate renewables expansion
taz
Germany’s federal government has approved a draft law to accelerate the expansion of renewable energy sources in line with the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) III, newspaper taz reported. The law, which is designed to shorten the approval process for renewable energy projects, is set to be approved by parliament before the summer recess.
Approved in 2023, RED III mandates a minimum of 42.5 percent of total energy consumed in the EU to be generated from renewable sources by 2030.
According to the environment ministry, key elements of the draft law include measures to shorten the approval procedures under immission control and water law. In addition, a single body will be responsible for the approval of applications, and all approval procedures will be conducted electronically from November this year.
Environment minister Carsten Schneider said faster permitting was a central goal of the new government, adding that the law still contained an “appropriate assessment” of environmental concerns. Last year, the previous government already drafted a law to accelerate the expansion of onshore wind, solar farms and energy storage facilities by shortening approval times for projects, but it failed to clear parliament as a result of the coalition collapse.
Germany’s utility association BDEW, which recently called for the quick implementation of the RED III Directive, welcomed the law, especially with regardin to onshore wind. However, the energy industry lobby group said that the government must do more to designate additional land as so-called acceleration areas for onshore wind power, where faster construction of new turbines is particularly beneficial.
After a slowdown in the expansion of wind and solar power during the 2010s, the buildout of both renewable power technologies has gained steam again thanks to falling hardware prices and regulatory changes enacted by the previous government. Germany aims to source 80 percent of its electricity demand from renewable sources by 2030. In 2024, renewables produced 57.6 percent of all electricity in the country.
