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According to Bloomberg, a spokesman for the Christian Social Union, Georg Nuesslein, announced there is a possibility the German government could delay its proposition to cut solar subsidies. The government is considering pushing back the deadline by three weeks to allow developers to complete projects. Nuesslein said that the government plans to adjust the feed-in tariff before a draft bill goes to parliament.
Analysts at Progos AG state a surge in PV expansion would lead to a 2% increase in energy bills by 2016. The government would gain €50 billion making the PV industry less of a drain on resources, as the government currently believes it to be.
Carsten Kornig, CEO of trade union BSW-Solar said, “These plans amount to a solar phase-out. Now the plug is to be pulled on solar power. Under these conditions, the transformation of the energy system cannot be successful. At stake is also the existence of many tens of thousands of jobs in one of Germany’s most important future-oriented industries. Apparently, Rösler and the interests of the major energy corporations have prevailed. Now we are faced with a major environmental and energy policy rollback.”
Photovoltaik conducted interviews with various companies within the German solar industry. Below is a summary of some of their comments:
Frank Asbeck, CEO SolarWorld: “A quantity-dependent fee reduction is the right way to go. This provides safety for manufacturers, installers and customers. We need solar power in Germany to sustain the supply of electricity and counter climate change.”
Christian Plesser, chief sales and marketing, Inventux Technologies: “We reject these new, unplanned and unwarranted reductions in feed-in tariffs. The expansion of the PV industry is being used as a scapegoat”.
On Monday, the German solar industry will be converging on Berlin to protest against the cuts in the hope the government will either reverse its decision or at the very least, come to a compromise.
