The German government has reached an agreement with the 16 Länder on reforms to the renewable energy law, agreeing to cap the development of onshore wind capacity at 2.8 GW per year (around 1,000 turbines per year) to curb the costs of renewable support on end-consumer bills.
In addition, new wind capacity additions will be limited in northern Germany to avoid overburdening the power grid and solar power expansion will be capped to 600 MW; solar installations below 750 kW (such as rooftop solar panels) will continue to receive support. The government wants to switch from a guaranteed payment scheme (feed-in tariffs) to a competitive auction system, where renewable power producers would only receive a tariff if their project wins a tender.
The draft law is expected to come into force in early 2017.
Germany still aims at reaching a share of 40-45% of renewables in total power generation by 2025 but will seek to slow down the rapid development of onshore wind capacities (+5.3 GW installed in 2014 and +3.7 GW in 2015 to 43.1 GW).
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