The Bundesrat, the federal legislative council, has approved the law passed by the Bundestag (German Parliament) on measures to accelerate the expansion of renewable energy.

The law is a part of the Easter Package aimed at legislative measures to deploy renewable energy. According to the Package, by 2030, renewables must be at least 80% of Germany’s power capacity mix to ensure energy security.

The Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) amendment aligns climate, energy, and economic policy with the 1.5-degree climate control path.

The country aims to install 215 GW of solar capacity by 2030, with 22 GW of capacity additions per year.

The law also increases the current expansion rate of onshore wind energy to 10 GW per year so that by 2030 115 GW of energy will come from wind sources.

The country plans to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045. The policy provides more clarity on renewable capacity additions per year by 2023.

The Bundesrat also approved the law for expanding onshore wind projects. By December 2032, 2% of the total land would be available for onshore wind projects, which means doubling the current area, which amounts to 0.8% of the federal area.

The law also facilitates repowering old wind turbines, where new turbines can replace the older turbines in the same location. The law aims to simplify the planning methodology and increase judicial certainty.

In another proposed law, the federal government has distributed the carbon dioxide costs depending on the carbon dioxide emissions billed per square meter of living space. Tenants will have to bear 100% of the total costs for energy-efficient buildings on the first of ten levels. It decreases by 10% at each additional level, so the landlord must bear 100% of the total costs for buildings with poor energy quality.

Recently, only 714 MW of bids were submitted in response to 1.126 GW of solar projects tendered. As per the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur), only 116 bids with a total of 714 MW were submitted in the round with a deadline of June 1 for a tendered volume of 1.126 GW. This is the first time a tender for ground-mounted solar projects has been undersubscribed.

Earlier in March, Bundesnetzagentur had awarded 1,084 MW of solar projects in auctions.