Expansion targets for PV and wind power tightened again in the BMWK’s “Osterpaket”
At the beginning of January, Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck presented his plans for the immediate climate protection program as part of the presentation of the opening balance sheet.
The first package of measures was announced for Easter 2022, and a second package for summer 2022. The BMWK has now followed up on this announcement and presented its “Osterpaket” on 06.04.2022.
The government’s coalition agreement already contains ambitious plans for expanding renewable energies. The Osterpaket has tightened the expansion targets for PV and wind onshore capacity. By 2030, an additional 15 GW each of PV capacity (a total of 215 GW by 2030) and wind onshore capacity (a total of 115 GW by 2030) has to be installed 1. To achieve this goal, a yearly average of 17.4 GW of PV (rooftop, ground-mounted, and dedicated solar) and 6.5 GW of onshore wind will have to be added annually.
Looking back at the historical expansion, it appears evident that a huge challenge lies ahead. The necessary build-out rates will need to ramp up sharply in the next few years to achieve the target level of 22 GW of PV and 10 GW of onshore wind annually. In 2030, the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption should thus rise to 80 percent (2021: 41%). To achieve the final target, however, the expansion level of renewables must remain high after 2030 so that our electricity generation becomes virtually greenhouse gas neutral in 2035.