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Against the backdrop of an escalating climate crisis and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Federal Minister Robert Habeck has presented a comprehensive immediate action package for energy („Easter Package“).

According to Habeck, both crises show how important it is to phase out fossil fuels permanently and as fast as possible and to press ahead with the expansion of renewable energy. Now, if not before, renewable energy has become a matter of national security. In what is arguably the most ambitious revision in the field of energy policy for decades, concrete measure are set out to give renewables expansion a major boost – on water, on land and on rooftops.

Comprehensive immediate action package for more renewables

At the heart of the package is the principle that the use of renewable energy is in the overriding public interest and serves public security. As early as 2035, Germany is to source its electricity almost entirely from renewable energy. To this end, a large number of new sites will be made available for photovoltaics, the participation of municipalities in onshore wind and photovoltaics will be extended, and more low-wind sites will be developed. In addition, the policy environment for the expansion of rooftop PV installations will be improved.

In order to pave the way for these measures, several laws and ordinances in the field of energy legislation have had to be amended, including the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), the Offshore Wind Energy Act (WindSeeG), the Energy Industry Act (EnWG), the Federal Requirements Plan Act (BBPlG) and the Grid Expansion Acceleration Act (NABEG).

The most important changes to the Renewable Energy Sources Act include:

The renewables expansion target for 2030 will be raised to at least 80% of domestic gross electricity consumption. By speeding up renewables expansion and electrification, Germany wants to quickly reduce its reliance on fossil imports, particularly on imports of natural gas. The auction quantities for wind and photovoltaics will be adjusted to the new expansion target for 2030.

In order to ensure that Germany will be able to source virtually all of its electricity from renewables by 2035, the revision of the Renewable Energy Sources Act proposes a large set of individual measures for photovoltaics expansion and an accelerated expansion of onshore wind energy as well as a reorientation of biomass use towards highly flexible peak load power plants. Citizens’ energy undertakings are to be strengthened and the financial participation of municipalities expanded.

You can find an overview of the Easter Package and all related bills here. Once the parliamentary procedure has been concluded, the new legislation is to enter into force.