Grand Coalition breaks its climate protection promise: Ambitious expansion targets for renewable energies also missing from new EEG resolutions

Berlin, 24.6.2021: Commenting on today's discussion of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) in the German Bundestag Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Federal Executive Director of Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH):

"The grand coalition is breaking its promise to set higher expansion targets for renewable energies for the year 2030 before the end of this election period. An agreement failed mainly due to the energy transition brakemen within the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. In doing so, the federal government is ignoring the implementation of the new EU climate targets and disregarding the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court to tackle more ambitious climate protection measures before 2030. The amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act is missing the heart of the matter. As recently as the end of 2020, Federal Economics Minister Peter Altmaier had announced an ambitious expansion path for wind and solar energy for the first quarter of 2021. After a long wait, there was only the famous drop in the ocean: four gigawatts of onshore wind energy and six gigawatts of photovoltaics are the targets for 2022. Longer-term expansion targets? No such thing. Quite obviously, the need for a rapid transformation of our energy supply has not yet reached the CDU/CSU, despite all their climate protection pledges in the election campaign."

The rising demand for electricity from electric heat pumps and electromobility necessitates the expansion of at least six gigawatts of onshore wind energy and at least ten gigawatts of photovoltaics - and this annually until 2030. The financial participation of municipalities in ground-mounted photovoltaics and easier repowering of wind turbines, on the other hand, are fundamentally positive measures.

Source: PM of DUH from 24.6.2021