Projected decrease in renewables levy not a turning point - opinion

This year’s projected slight decrease in Germany’s renewables levy (EEG surcharge) is not a turning point in the country’s energy transition, writes Klaus Stratmann in an opinion piece in Handelsblatt. Support payments for existing wind and solar power installations, guaranteed for 20 years, as well as those for new offshore wind parks would “ruin all hope for a turning point”. “The next federal government will have a lot of work to do in making the Energiewende financing more efficient”, writes Stratmann. The proposed CO₂ price might seem logical, but it might also “throw the overall structure off-balance” if introduced parallel to the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) and the EU ETS, writes Stratmann.

Find the opinion piece (behind paywall) in German here.

For background, read the CLEW factsheets Defining features of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) and What German households pay for power, and the news digest entry Renewables levy to decrease slightly in 2018 – think tank.