German renewables levy will noticeably decrease in 2019 – media report

Germany’s surcharge paid for the roll-out of renewable energy sources, the EEG-surcharge, will “noticeably decrease” in 2019, writes Andreas Mihm in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. According to the article, the renewables levy will decrease to 6.4 cents per kilowatt hour (ct/kWh) from the current 6.792 ct/kWh. A likely reasons for the reduction is a billion-euro surplus in Germany’s “green energy account”, partly due to rising power prices, writes Mihm. The German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) had expected a decrease to 6.51 ct/kWh. The EEG-surcharge closes the gap between the expenses for the feed-in tariffs for electricity from renewable power plants and the income generated by the sale of EEG electricity on the electricity exchange.

For background, read the CLEW factsheet Balancing the books: Germany's "green energy account".