Germany's parliament approved a plan to reform the country's renewable energy law by ending feed-in tariffs in favour of competitive auctions and putting clear volumes on wind energy deployment. Lawmakers have agreed to cap the annual auctions for onshore wind at 2.8GW and offer fluctuating tenders for offshore wind in order to control renewables installations over the next decade.
The limit for onshore wind is expected to increase after 2020 to 2.9GW a year. The offshore cap, which will apply from 2021-2030, will vary from year to year to ensure that Germany reaches its 15GW wind energy target in the next 15 years. The reforms are expected to come into effect in January 2017. The annual caps also include repowering. Germany accounted for 44% of all wind installations in Europe last year, installing a total of 6GW. Germany deployed 3.7GW in onshore wind and 2.3GW in offshore wind.
