Background information

In 2002 and 2011, the German legislators decided on the phase-out of nuclear energy use which was finalised in 2023. Germany also phases out coal-fired energy production until 2038 (in some areas 2030). Before this background, the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) of the year 2000 was continuously adapted (in (2004, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016/2017, 2021, and 2023) to steer and finance the shift to renewable energy production in Germany. The aim of the EEG measures is to transform the energy supply and increase the share of renewable energies in the electricity supply to at least 80% by 2030. Further measures supported by the EEG are a reduction of the economic costs of energy supply and technology development in the area of renewable energies.

Content of measure

The German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2023) regulates the preferential feeding of electricity from renewable sources into the power grid and guarantees renewable energy producers fixed feed-in tariffs. In its latest version of 2023, the law sets the goal to increase the share of renewable energies in the electricity supply to at least 80% by 2030. The performance-related expansion path for the use of renewable energy in the electricity sector stipulates: In 2030, 115 gigawatts of onshore wind energy, 215 gigawatts of photovoltaics and 8.4 gigawatts of biomass systems should be installed.

The EEG obliges network operators to give priority to connecting renewable energy systems to their network and to primarily accept and forward the electricity generated. In return, they receive a feed-in tariff or market premium if economic operation is not possible without subsidies due to the production costs. The funding usually runs for 20 years. Systems with an output of up to 100 kilowatts (kW) are supported by a fixed feed-in tariff. Above the threshold of 100 kW, it is mandatory to market the electricity generated directly, and the support is paid to the operator as a market premium via the Climate and Transformation Fund.

Until mid-2022, the feed-in tariffs or market premiums paid out by the network operators to the subsidized system operators were financed by all end consumers (citizens and businesses) through the so-called EEG levy. Since the abolition of the EEG levy, the differential costs are covered by the federal budget.

Use of measure

When the EEG was introduced in 2000, the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption in Germany was 6.3%. According to estimates by the Renewable Energy Statistics Working Group (AGEE-Stat), the share was 52% in the first half of 2023. In the first half of 2022, the proportion was 49% - for the whole of 2022, the corresponding value was 46%

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Other businesses	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies	Companies National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

Energy policy is not specifically a social partner issue.

Views and reactions

The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and its member unions welcome the end of the financing of the EEG surcharge through all consumers via the electricity price in 2022. This step would corresponds to long-standing union demands. It would be important as a measure to relieve the burden on private and commercial consumers and to ensure affordable electricity prices.

For the Federation of German Industries (BDI - not a social partner but closely related to the Federal Association of German Employers' Associations, BDA), it is important that the abolition of the EEG levy is permanent and legally secure and is not subject to budgetary restrictions.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 26 July 2023: Renewable Energy Ac (www.gesetze-im-internet.de)