Germany’s feed-in tariffs (FiT) were introduced to promote renewable energy technologies such as wind power, solar photovoltaics, biomass, and hydropower. These tariffs provide long-term financial incentives by paying rates above market prices to accelerate deployment, with higher tariffs for costlier sources like solar PV and tidal power. The revised Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2.0) uses auctions to set tariffs and aims for renewables to supply 40–45% of electricity by 2025 and up to 60% by 2035. In 2014, renewables accounted for 28.5% of Germany’s electricity, while the Fraunhofer Institute notes that despite solar imports from China, most FiT-related spending stays domestic, supporting a strong renewable sector despite recent challenges in solar manufacturing.
Progression of solar PV FiTs before 2012
The feed-in tariff system has been modified frequently. The feed-in tariff, in force since 1 August 2004, was modified in 2008.10 In view of the unexpectedly high growth rates, the depreciation was accelerated and a new category (>1000 kWp) was created with a lower tariff. The facade premium was abolished. In July 2010, the Renewable Energy Sources Act was again amended to reduce the tariffs by a further 16% in addition to the normal annual depreciation, as the prices for PV panels had dropped sharply in 2009.11 Another modification of the EEG occurred in 2011, when part of the degression foreseen for 2012 was brought forward to mid-2011 as a response to unexpectedly high installations in the course of 2010.12
Feed-in tariffs for newly installed photovoltaic systems paid over 20 years [¢/kWh]13| Type | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | July2010 | October2010 | 2011 | January2012 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rooftop-mounted | up to 30 kWp | 57.40 | 54.53 | 51.80 | 49.21 | 46.75 | 43.01 | 39.14 | 34.05 | 33.03 | 28.74 | 24.43 |
| above 30 kWp | 54.60 | 51.87 | 49.28 | 46.82 | 44.48 | 40.91 | 37.23 | 32.39 | 31.42 | 27.33 | 23.23 | |
| above 100 kWp | 54.00 | 51.30 | 48.74 | 46.30 | 43.99 | 39.58 | 35.23 | 30.65 | 29.73 | 25.86 | 21.98 | |
| above 1000 kWp | 54.00 | 51.30 | 48.74 | 46.30 | 43.99 | 33.00 | 29.37 | 25.55 | 24.79 | 21.56 | 18.33 | |
| Ground-mounted | conversion areas | 45.70 | 43.40 | 40.60 | 37.96 | 35.49 | 31.94 | 28.43 | 26.16 | 25.37 | 22.07 | 18.76 |
| agricultural fields | 45.70 | 43.40 | 40.60 | 37.96 | 35.49 | 31.94 | 28.43 | — | — | — | — | |
| other | 45.70 | 43.40 | 40.60 | 37.96 | 35.49 | 31.94 | 28.43 | 25.02 | 24.26 | 21.11 | 17.94 | |
| Installations on agricultural fields were removed under the PV Act (2010). | ||||||||||||
The support duration is 20 years plus the year of project commissioning, constant remuneration. Feed-in tariffs was lowered repeatedly (decreasing by 9% default and a maximum of 24% per year). Degression will be accelerated or slowed down by three percentage points for every 1000 MWp/a divergence from the target of 3500 MWp/a.
Progression of solar PV FiTs since 2012
As of July 2014, feed-in tariffs for photovoltaic systems range from 12.88 ¢/kWh for small roof-top system, down to 8.92 ¢/kWh for large utility scaled solar parks. Also, FiTs are restricted to PV system with a maximum capacity of 10 MWp. The feed-in tariff for solar PV is declining at a faster rate than for any other renewable technology.14
Feed-in tariffs for solar PV since April 2012 [¢/kWh]15| Year | Month | Degression | Rooftop mounted | Ground mounted up to 10 MWp | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| up to 10 kWp | up to 40 kWp | up to 1 MWp | up to 10 MWp | ||||
| 2012 | April | — | 19.50 | 18.50 | 16.50 | 13.50 | 13.50 |
| May | 1.0% | 19.31 | 18.32 | 16.34 | 13.37 | 13.37 | |
| June | 19.11 | 18.13 | 16.17 | 13.23 | 13.23 | ||
| July | 18.92 | 17.95 | 16.01 | 13.10 | 13.10 | ||
| August | 18.73 | 17.77 | 15.85 | 12.97 | 12.97 | ||
| September | 18.54 | 17.59 | 15.69 | 12.84 | 12.84 | ||
| October | 18.36 | 17.42 | 15.53 | 12.71 | 12.71 | ||
| November | 2.5% | 17.90 | 16.98 | 15.15 | 12.39 | 12.39 | |
| December | 17.45 | 16.56 | 14.77 | 12.08 | 12.08 | ||
| 2013 | January | 17.02 | 16.14 | 14.40 | 11.78 | 11.78 | |
| February | 2.2% | 16.64 | 15.79 | 14.08 | 11.52 | 11.52 | |
| March | 16.28 | 15.44 | 13.77 | 11.27 | 11.27 | ||
| April | 15.92 | 15.10 | 13.47 | 11.02 | 11.02 | ||
| May | 1.8% | 15.63 | 14.83 | 13.23 | 10.82 | 10.82 | |
| June | 15.35 | 14.56 | 12.99 | 10.63 | 10.63 | ||
| July | 15.07 | 14.30 | 12.75 | 10.44 | 10.44 | ||
| August | 1.8% | 14.80 | 14.04 | 12.52 | 10.25 | 10.25 | |
| September | 14.54 | 13.79 | 12.30 | 10.06 | 10.06 | ||
| October | 14.27 | 13.54 | 12.08 | 9.88 | 9.88 | ||
| November | 1.4% | 14.07 | 13.35 | 11.91 | 9.74 | 9.74 | |
| December | 13.88 | 13.17 | 11.74 | 9.61 | 9.61 | ||
| 2014 | January | 13.68 | 12.98 | 11.58 | 9.47 | 9.47 | |
| February | 1.0% | 13.55 | 12.85 | 11.46 | 9.38 | 9.38 | |
| March | 13.41 | 12.72 | 11.35 | 9.28 | 9.28 | ||
| April | 13.28 | 12.60 | 11.23 | 9.19 | 9.19 | ||
| May | 13.14 | 12.47 | 11.12 | 9.10 | 9.10 | ||
| June | 13.01 | 12.34 | 11.01 | 9.01 | 9.01 | ||
| July | 12.88 | 12.22 | 10.90 | 8.92 | 8.92 | ||
| Maximum remuneration part16 | 100% | 90% | 90% | 100% | 100% | ||
Renewable Energy Sources Act (2014)
Main article: German Renewable Energy Sources Act
On 1 August 2014, a revised Renewable Energy Sources Act entered into force. Specific deployment corridors now stipulate the extent to which renewable energy is to be expanded in the future and the funding rates (feed-in tariffs) gradually will no longer be fixed by the government, but will be determined by auction. Wind and solar power are to be targeted over hydro, gas (landfill gas, sewage gas, and mine gas), geothermal, and biomass. In late 2015, this new scheme is being tested, as a pilot project, for ground-mounted PV installations.17 With the Renewable Energy Sources Act (2017), auctions will become commonplace for new installations also for most other types of renewables.
See also
- Germany portal
- Energy portal
- Energiewende in Germany
- German Renewable Energy Sources Act, also known as the EEG
References
Policymaker's Guide to Feed-in Tariff Policies, U.S. National Renewable Energy Lab, www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/44849.pdf ↩
German Energy Blog German Feed-in Tariffs 2014 (01-07) Archived 2017-07-03 at the Wayback Machine http://www.germanenergyblog.de/?page_id=16376 ↩
Making a success of the energy transition: on the road to a secure, clean and affordable energy supply (PDF). Berlin, Germany: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). September 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-17. http://www.bmwi.de/English/Redaktion/Pdf/making-a-success-of-the-energy-transition,property=pdf,bereich=bmwi2012,sprache=en,rwb=true.pdf ↩
HM Treasury (2006). Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change Archived October 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine p. 367. http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_change/stern_review_report.cfm ↩
German Energy Blog BDEW: Renewables Account for Record 28.5% of Gross German Electricity Consumption in First Half of 2014, BDEW, [1] Archived 2014-07-29 at the Wayback Machine Erneuerbare Energien erreichen neuen Rekordwert http://www.germanenergyblog.de/?page_id=16368 ↩
HM Treasury (2006). Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change Archived October 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine p. 367. http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_change/stern_review_report.cfm ↩
German Energy Blog Some More Figures on German EEG Renewables Generation, Revenues, Surcharge, Payments, and the Special Equalisation Scheme http://www.germanenergyblog.de/?p=15053 ↩
German Energy Blog German Renewables Surcharge Increases by 19% to 6.24 ¢/kWh in 2014 http://www.germanenergyblog.de/?p=14559 ↩
Facts about solar PV (in German), pages 29-30 http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/de/veroeffentlichungen/veroeffentlichungen-pdf-dateien/studien-und-konzeptpapiere/aktuelle-fakten-zur-photovoltaik-in-deutschland.pdf ↩
EEG 2009 modifications Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft. 2 Feb 2011. http://www.solarwirtschaft.de/fileadmin/content_files/EEG2009_Zusammenfass.pdf ↩
EEG 2010 modifications Archived 2011-08-15 at the Wayback Machine Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft. 2 Feb 2011. http://en.solarwirtschaft.de/fileadmin/content_files/eeg_changes_10.pdf ↩
EEG 2011 modifications Archived 2011-08-15 at the Wayback Machine Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft. 2 Feb 2011. http://en.solarwirtschaft.de/home/news/meldung/article/agreement-on-flexible-adjustments-to-solar-feed-in-tariff.html?tx_ttnews ↩
"Feed-in tariffs by category since 2009". www.netztransparenz.de (in German). Netztransparenz. Retrieved 2018-05-02. https://www.netztransparenz.de/EEG/Verguetungs-und-Umlagekategorien ↩
Facts about solar PV (in German) http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/de/veroeffentlichungen/veroeffentlichungen-pdf-dateien/studien-und-konzeptpapiere/aktuelle-fakten-zur-photovoltaik-in-deutschland.pdf ↩
"Photovoltaikanlagen: Datenmeldungen sowie EEG-Vergütungssätze" [Monthly reported new installations of PV systems and current feed-in tariffs of the German Renewable Energy Act] (in German). Bundesnetzagentur. Archived from the original on 11 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20190211181314/https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Sachgebiete/ElektrizitaetundGas/Unternehmen_Institutionen/ErneuerbareEnergien/Photovoltaik/DatenMeldgn_EEG-VergSaetze/DatenMeldgn_EEG-VergSaetze_node.html ↩
Germany: feed-in tariffs 2013 (PDF). Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20140327123437/http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/fileadmin/ee-import/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/pv_verguetung_1206_bf.pdf ↩
Making a success of the energy transition: on the road to a secure, clean and affordable energy supply (PDF). Berlin, Germany: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). September 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-17. http://www.bmwi.de/English/Redaktion/Pdf/making-a-success-of-the-energy-transition,property=pdf,bereich=bmwi2012,sprache=en,rwb=true.pdf ↩