Germany Raises Maximum Tariff For Rooftop Solar!

The German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has decided to increase the maximum tariffs for rooftop solar and wind power ahead of the 2023 tender for renewable energy projects.

The Bundesnetzagentur said it hoped the tariff increase would lead to an increase in the number of bids for renewable energy projects, following the unsatisfactory results of the 2022 tenders for photovoltaic and wind power.

For 2023, the new maximum tariff for rooftop solar PV systems in Germany is set at €0.1125/kWh ($0.12/kWh) and onshore wind will be priced at €0.073/kWh ($0.77/kWh), while the maximum price for ground-based solar projects is currently being determined.

The Federal Network Agency said that this takes into account the increase in system construction and operating costs, in addition to the rise in interest costs for financing solar projects. The Bundestag (the German Federal Parliament) has currently granted the Federal Network Agency a higher permit range for increases of up to 25 percent, compared to the previous maximum of 10 percent.

Klaus Müller, chairman of the Federal Network Agency, said he hoped that the increase in the maximum price would lead to an increase in the volume of bids and thus promote competition in the German PV market. He said the tender prices were calculated to give projects enough revenue and stability to meet Germany's renewable energy expansion targets.

According to a report by SolarPower Europe, Germany is once again the country with the highest installed solar PV capacity in Europe in 2022. Media analysis with some of the key players in the German market highlighted the growth in tender volumes as one of the ways in which Germany could achieve this goal.

The Federal Network Agency said that bids for rooftop solar PV were almost halved in December. Despite this, 1.1GW of solar PV projects were signed in last April's tender round. Despite the early reduction in the number of tenders, there is still a significant shortage of funding.

A similar situation has emerged in other European countries with regard to tenders for price increases and market fluctuations. Poland signed only 486MW of solar PV projects in the December tender; no solar projects were signed in Spain in the December tender.

According to the SolarPower Europe report, Germany is leading the way in terms of new installed capacity in 2022, adding around 7.9GW, followed by Spain with 7.5GW, Poland in fourth place with 4.9GW of new installations, the Netherlands with 4GW of new installations and France with 2.7GW of new installations.

The poor tender volumes in the leading countries for solar installations have led to concerns about the EU's renewable energy targets for 2023 and beyond, with governments offering incentives in response. Last month, the EU approved nearly $30 billion in funding for Germany's Renewable Energy Renewal Programme, which aims to achieve 80% renewable energy generation by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2045.

The EU also made clear the need to improve the competitiveness of tenders by limiting risks and reducing costs to consumers and taxpayers. Germany's latest revision, nearly $30 billion renewable energy plan.

In addition, the EU introduced emergency legislation last year to reduce the permitting time for rooftop solar and installations on man-made structures to no more than one month.