Small-scale renewables law reform draft omits provision on solar support cap

The German economy ministry has drawn up proposals to reform the country’s Renewable Energy Act (EEG), but these do not yet include provisions to eliminate the existing 52-gigawatt cap for support for new solar PV installations or a solution to the wind turbine minimum distance rule dispute, writes pv magazine. In particular some conservative MPs from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU are tying the cap elimination to controversial minimum distance rules for wind turbines to the nearest settlement, writes pv magazine. The draft proposal would, however, once and for all get rid of a special rule for citizens’ energy wind projects, which has led to a slowdown in expansion in 2018 and was only temporarily removed until mid-2020. It also contains provisions on granting extended deadlines for the realisation of renewables projects amid the coronavirus crisis. The draft also stipulates that energy-intensive companies will be granted more time to apply for exemptions from the renewables surcharge, business daily Handelsblatt reports.

Changes to the EEG became necessary with the German government coalition’s climate package decisions from September 2019, but have been held up due to disputes over minimum distance rules for wind turbines as well as the coronavirus crisis.