German political parties, CDU/CSU and SPD, whom are now in talks to create a new government coalition following the deadlocked elections in September 2017, have agreed that more solar and wind power auctions will have to be held in the coming years.
Negotiators of the two parties have agreed, in a 28-page document to which pv magazine had access, that Germany currently needs to expand its onshore and offshore wind power deployment, as well as solar PV.
According to the paper, there should be additional auctions aimed at saving eight to 10 million tonnes of CO2 as part of the nation's 2020 climate goal. The auction plan is intended to enable the deployment of around 4 GW of solar and onshore wind power plants, and 1 GW of offshore wind, between 2019-2020. A prerequisite, however, is the availability of network capacity, for which there should be further modernization efforts.
Climate policy has already caused the CDU/CSU and SPD to largely abandon the 2020 climate target. This decision caused a massive outcry among environmental and renewables associations during the course of the past week. The exploratory paper now states that a grand coalition is committed to the 2020, 2030 and 2050 climate goals.
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However, it continues, “We want to close the action gap to achieve the 2020 climate target as soon as possible. We definitely want to achieve the 2030 reduction target.” This implies that the Union and SPD do not expect the 2020 target to be reached. Originally, the federal government wanted to reduce greenhouse gases by 40% compared to 1990 levels by that date.
At the same time, the parties have agreed to work on an action plan by the end of the year for the phasing out of coal. A commission will be tasked to prepare this. The plan is to provide for a gradual reduction in coal-fired power generation and a final, closing date. Financial backing using Germany federal funds is intended to shore-up the necessary structural changes, the paper states.
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Germany with a grand partnership may well achieve the PV leadership if felt it was losing when the loss of Solar Power seemed imminent last summer. Interesting!