News
07 May 2019, 12:30
Julian Wettengel

Regulatory reform needed to reach 2030 renewables expansion goal – Renewable Energy Federation

Clean Energy Wire

Germany can reach the government’s goal to expand renewables to cover 65 percent of electricity consumption by 2030, but must quickly implement the necessary regulatory reforms, according to scenario calculations by the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE). Under the current framework, the share can only reach 44 percent, taking into account that the country will have additional power needs to electrify large parts of the transport and heating sectors, and these will overcompensate efficiency gains, said BEE in a press release. “The switch must be flipped immediately and the expansion of renewables accelerated again,” said BEE president Simone Peter. The expansion paths for renewable energies would have to be significantly increased, the necessary land and permits provided, and existing expansion limits removed, she said.

Angela Merkel’s government decided in the 2018 coalition agreement to raise Germany’s renewables target to 65 percent of power consumption by 2030 – provided that the grid’s carrying capacity is sufficient – in an effort to help reach greenhouse gas emissions goals. In 2018, renewables covered about 38 percent. Expansion has slowed in recent years and the grand coalition has set up a parliamentary working group tasked with developing measures to ensure Germany can achieve the 2030 goal. The parliamentarians are especially concerned about securing acceptance from citizens for new renewables installations.

All texts created by the Clean Energy Wire are available under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0)” . They can be copied, shared and made publicly accessible by users so long as they give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
« previous news next news »

Ask CLEW

Researching a story? Drop CLEW a line or give us a call for background material and contacts.

info@cleanenergywire.org

+49 30 62858 497

Journalism for the energy transition

Get our Newsletter
Join our Network
Find an interviewee