GERMANY: Renewables law to come into force in April

Germany’s lower house, the Bundestag, did not water down the bill’s proposed level of subsidy for solar energy (see< a href="http://www.edie.net/news/Archive/2149.html"> related story). In passing the legislation, the Bundestag retained the guarantee that solar-generated electricity entering the grid will receive a fixed DM0.99 per kilowatt hour. Other forms of renewable energy will receive lower fixed prices, with sewage gas, landfill and hydro plants generating more than 5MW excluded from the bill.

The overall aim of the legislation is to allow Germany to generate 10% of its electricity from renewable electricity sources by 2010. With the country’s earlier renewable energy support bill having largely succeeded in establishing wind energy on a commercial footing, there are hopes that this next round of fixed price agreements will do the same for solar energy. Several companies already sell grid-connected solar generation systems to the German domestic market (see related story).

The new fixed prices for renewable energy come into effect at the beginning of April.