Renewable energies: the ambitious goals of the traffic light coalition

Renewable energies: the ambitious goals of the traffic light coalition

solar-park

The traffic light focuses on renewable energies! This is what is written in the joint coalition agreement of the future government coalition of SPD, FDP and Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, which the parties presented on November 24. After two months of negotiations, the new coalition has agreed on common goals for the upcoming legislative period. The trio has ambitious goals for the expansion of renewable energies.

Renewable energies for heat and electricity

Klimaneutralität ist Programm. Laut dem 177-Seiten starken Dokument soll der Anteil der Erneuerbaren Energien am Stromverbrauch bis zum Jahr 2030 auf 80 % statt auf die bisher vorgesehenen 65 % steigen.

Wärme soll bis zum Jahr 2030 zu 50 % aus Erneuerbaren Energien erzeugt werden. The Municipal heat planning would be used as an important instrument across the board. From 2025, 65% of buildings are to be heated by renewable energies. Funding programs for renovations will be promoted and expanded, and the building energy certificate will be standardized and digitalized, according to the plans.

There will be a higher energy demand in the future

The ambitions to increase the promotion of renewable energies are based not least on the expectation that more energy will be consumed in the future. Thus, the estimates of future energy demand were adjusted in the coalition agreement. Instead of the previous 580 terawatt hours (TWh) assumed in the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), the parties assume a demand of 680-750 TWh in 2030.

Accelerated expansion of renewable energies

To respond to rising energy consumption, the power generation capacity through photovoltaics is to be increased to 200 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 instead of the 100 GW envisaged in the EEG. To achieve this, all owners of commercial buildings are to be required, among other things, to use suitable roof surfaces for solar energy.

The capacity of wind power must also be increased, the agreement states. Wind turbines at sea are to generate 30 GW instead of just 20 GW by 2030. Two percent of the land area is earmarked for onshore wind power.

Less bureaucracy and more citizen participation

In order to speed up the expansion of renewable energies, the new coalition wants to reduce existing hurdles. To this end, it plans to reduce bureaucracy by accelerating planning and approval procedures and to relieve authorities with the help of external experts.

An important element of the new mission, he said, is to strengthen citizen energy. Improved framework conditions such as energy sharing and security funds to minimize risks are intended to increase the acceptance of renewable energy among the population.

Energy associations are satisfied

Energy industry associations are largely satisfied with the announcements made in the new coalition agreement. Birgit Heinrich, Chairwoman of the Executive Board of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries, praises the coalition’s ambitious goals, but questions their feasibility:

The future governing coalition has recognized the urgency of the issue of climate protection and paved the way for the necessary transformation in its coalition agreement. This development makes me optimistic that we are finally gaining more speed in the energy turnaround and thus coming closer to the goal of climate neutrality in big steps. It is important that the new German government gets down to work quickly and meets the time targets it has set itself. The speed of implementation and the concrete design of the individual measures will determine how successful they will be in the end.

Dr. Simone Peter, President of the German Renewable Energy Federation, is also optimistic. The formulated targets would be tantamount to a new start in energy policy, says Peter.

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