The Bundestag, Germany’s House of Commons, has approved new renewable energy tariffs. The revised tariffs now move to the Bundesrat, Germany’s upper chamber.
The action is an expected part of the four-year review of Germany’s groundbreaking Renewable Energy Sources Act. Every four years parliament reviews the program and the tariffs that are paid to each renewable energy technology.
The revised tariffs are to take effect in 2009.
Noteworthy in this review are substantial increases in the payments for both offshore wind energy and wind energy on land. The tariff for wind turbines on land is being raised to 0.092 Euros/kWh, or about $0.146 CAD/kWh at current exchange rates. Tariffs for offshore wind turbines is being raised to 0.15 Euros/kWh, or about $0.24 CAD/kWh.
Not unsurprisingly, the new German tariff for wind turbines on land is nearly identical with the $0.148 CAD/kWh proposed by the Ontario Sustainable Association in its review of the Ontario Standard Offer Contract Program in 2007. (See Renewables without Limits: Moving Toward Advanced Renewable Tariffs by Updating Ontario’s Groundbreaking Standard Offer Program.)
The Bundestag’s action also put to rest rumors that Solar PV tariffs would be drastically reduced. The annual degression has increased, and new categories have been added, but the program remains intact.
