“Price drop for green power”

Changing renewables funding from guaranteed feed-in tariffs to auctions will drastically reduce revenues in the wind power industry, Daniel Wetzel writes in Die Welt. The renewables surcharge power customers pay with their electricity bill currently stands at 8.3 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) but could drop to 4 to 5 cents in the next few years, Wetzel writes. This will force manufacturers, project developers and landlords to exploit saving potential, which is abundant, he adds. However, “it cannot be expected that power will become cheaper for consumers in the end,” Wetzel says. Costs for grid expansion and operation have long replaced the surcharge as the biggest cost-driver on the bill, he explains.

Read the article in German here.

For more information, see the CLEW factsheet EEG reform 2016 – switching to auctions for renewables and the CLEW dossier Energiewende effects on power prices, costs and industry.