Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
With this target in place, in January 2009 the government amended the
Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2009) in order to improve remunera-
tion conditions and revive wind power development.
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he tarif for onshore
wind energy was increased to €0.0911 per kWh for the irst ive years (up
from €0.087 per kWh), declining to €0.0497 per kWh in ensuing years. he
tarif for ofshore wind energy was increased to €0.13 per kWh for the irst
12 years, falling to €0.035 per kWh for each year thereafter. For installations
that were located in deep water, operators could apply for prolongation of
the initial €0.13 per kWh subsidy. An additional €0.02 per kWh was also
ofered for ofshore installations that were commissioned before December
31, 2005, in order to jump start development. Finally, to ensure a higher
degree of responsiveness to the changing economics of energy generation,
this new act stipulated that the tarifs would be revisited every three years
instead of every four years, as initially established under the 1991 feed-in
tarif act.
A number of technological upgrading incentives were also introduced.
For example, onshore wind power installations could receive an additional
€0.005 per kWh, if they were equipped with advanced grid integration tech-
nology. Furthermore, for turbines that were more than 10 years old, a spe-
cial repowering bonus was announced for upgrades that doubled the rated
capacity of existing systems. In order to incentivize progressive innovation,
the tarif for new onshore installations would be reduced each year by 1%.
For ofshore installations, there was a period of grace prior to digression of
the feed-in tarif—there would be no annual reduction in the feed-in tarif
until 2015. hereafter, the feed-in tarif of €0.13 per kWh for new installa-
tions would decline by 5% per year. Finally, the new renewable energy act
also compelled grid operators to expand and optimize the grid in order to
accommodate wind power connections. Failure to do so would leave the grid
operator libel for damage claims by any renewable power producer that was
willing but unable to feed electricity into the grid.
he government also introduced two new initiatives in 2009 intended to
attenuate community opposition to onshore wind power and enhance local
participation. he irst initiative was a new tax law introduced on January 1,
2009 that ensured 70% of trade tax income coming from wind energy gen-
eration would go back to the local community where the energy was gener-
ated. he second initiative was the establishment of repowering consulting
agencies that were tasked with the responsibility of liaising with districts,
municipalities and local authorities in order to enhance support for the
development and implementation of turbine upgrade projects.
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On August 12, 2009, turbines at Germany's irst ofshore wind farm
started to feed electricity into the German power grid. his was a test ield
