Germany Invites Public Consultation For PV Strategy

At the recently concluded 1^st PV Summit in Germany, organized by the German Economy and Climate Ministry (BMWK), the government unveiled a formal draft  PV Strategy to reach the 215 GW cumulative installed solar capacity in the country by 2030. It is now inviting public consultation for the strategy.

Under the government’s Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), Germany aims to cover 80% of its gross electricity consumption from renewable energies by 2030 with solar PV contributing a total of 215 GW (see German Government Agrees On Higher 2030 Solar Goal Of 215 GW).

To achieve the eventual 2030 target, Germany needs to speed up its monthly installation rate to over 1.547 GW. For reference for the entire year of 2022, Germany installed 7.2 GW PV capacity (see Germany Exited 2022 With 7.2 GW New Solar Installed); in the first month of 2023, it installed around half that volume (see Germany Installed 780 MW New Solar In January 2023).

Total installed capacity of solar PV at the end of 2022 was 66.5 GW representing around 47% share out of 142 GW renewables capacity of Germany. In the revised EEG 2023, the government targets to grow annual PV additions to 9 GW in 2023, 13 GW in 2024 and 18 GW in 2025. From 2026, it will require annual installations to touch 22 GW, as per the BMWK.

To achieve these targets, BMWK’s draft strategy lists following 11 action areas:

1. Clarifying building use ordinances to expand ground mounted systems in industrial and commercial areas, and accommodate agricultural PV systems
2. Facilitating rooftop solar which it sees as becoming a norm in the future
3. Simplifying tenant electricity and community solar supply to bring down bureaucratic hurdles and encourage self-consumption
4. Facilitate the use of plug-in solar devices or ‘balcony PV’ that offer a ‘low-threshold opportunity’ to contribute to energy transition
5. Accelerate grid connections for utility scale PV and a shorter period for meter replacement for rooftop PV
6. Spread awareness to increase acceptance for solar by expanding ‘Citizen Energy Cooperatives’ for onshore wind to also include PV systems
7. Ensure effective interlinking of energy and tax law with simplifications
8. Focus on securing supply chains and incentivizing competitive European production, for which the ministry says it has started a stakeholder dialogue
9. Ensure skilled labor availability through a separate skilled labor strategy to recruit local and foreign workers
10. Continue to advance technology development through R&D and funding for photovoltaics
11. Use European political instruments to promote rapid expansion of PV like EU strategy for solar energy and Fit-for-55 package

The German Solar Industry Association’s (BSW) general manager Carsten Körnig was pleased with the documented efforts but said the government needs to reform energy market design and bring in clever new market rules to have fully renewable energy supply. The association demands a ‘powerful accompanying industrial strategy’ to secure solar supply chains for the implementation of these ambitious plans.

Feedback from relevant stakeholders for the draft PV Strategy, available in German language, will be accepted till March 24, 2023. The strategy document can be viewed on the BMWK website.

The final strategy, divided into Solar Package I and II, will be presented at the 2^nd PV Summit scheduled in May 2023 by BMWK.

BMWK recently said it will stimulate investment support for renewable energy including for solar PV manufacturing industry in Germany (see Germany’s Priority Measures To Speed up Energy Transition).