German 2010 PV installation figures announced

The German Federal Network Agency has published the official figures for last year’s newly installed PV capacity. In December, 1,173.94 MW were connected to the grid. According to the Network Agency’s available data, the final figure for the whole year reached 7,250 MW. However, the data from October to December still needs to be reviewed. Thereby, this shows that the two solar tariff cuts introduced last year were not implemented without consequences.
Last autumn, the grid operators predicted that 9,500 MW would be installed in 2010 and 2011 respectively. On this basis, they made the calculations for the renewable energy allocation (EEG-Umlage). This is the contribution paid by the consumers on their electricity bill for the expansion of renewable energies.
Meanwhile, even the federal government has already acknowledged that the contributions may be too high at 3.53 euro cents per kilowatt-hour, and will probably fall back below three cents per kilowatt hour in the coming year.