Germany aims to ease access for investment funds to renewables and energy infrastructure

Finance minister Christian Lindner has presented a draft law reform that aims to ease the access for investment funds into Germany’s renewable power and energy system infrastructure, PV Magazine reported. The proposal includes plans to provide institutional investors with more secure conditions and close gaps in taxation of investment funds vis-à-vis other investors to create a level playing field. “Given the enormous investment needs for infrastructure and renewable energies it is important to create secure conditions that can unlock urgently needed public and private funds for implementing the required projects and accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable future,” the document said. The initiative by Lindner, who hails from the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), was originally planned to be introduced last year but was scrapped by the parliament’s finance committee, the article said. Stakeholders can give their opinion on the proposal until mid-June and the law could enter into force by 2025.

German environmental groups earlier this year criticised that the potential of investment funds for backing Germany’s energy transition is still underused in the country. Taxation laws and other regulatory hurdles have been identified as one factor contributing to the underrepresentation of these institutional investors in the green energy sector, especially as trends and regulation in sustainable finance increasingly help tilting the balance towards more sustainable investment portfolios.