Annual expansion target for solar energy almost reached after six months

22.07.2024 – 22.07.2024 – The figures for the expansion of solar energy are positive. In the first half of 2024, the net addition of photovoltaic systems was 7.5 gigawatts. A total of 9.3 gigawatts of renewable energy plants went into operation, according to the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA).

We are seeing a continuous expansion, especially in solar systems," says Klaus Müller, President of the Federal Network Agency. "Compared to the total output at the end of 2023, almost 10 percent more solar power was added. Two-thirds of this is due to building complexes, which also include the balcony systems. At the end of June, we exceeded 90 gigawatts of installed capacity for the first time. This is an enormous development and a challenge for the entire transformation process in the electricity sector."

Although data from the Federal Network Agency from the beginning of January to the end of June only show new permits of 105.9 megawatts (MW), there are also permits from the time before and the many new plants installed at short notice. With regard to the improvements initiated in the Solar Package I, the Managing Director of the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar) said in June: "Last but not least, the run on solar balcony power plants clearly shows where the journey is heading. The reduction in bureaucracy initiated by the Bundestag makes it possible for the housing industry to increasingly build larger solar systems in order to reduce the electricity bills of its tenants and make a contribution to climate protection."

BSW-Solar already announced in June that after the strong year 2023, it expects enormous growth this year as well. Companies in particular are increasingly investing in solar systems. In the first four months of 2024, newly installed PV capacity grew by 81 percent for commercial roofs and by 74 percent for ground-mounted solar power plants compared to the comparable analysis period in the previous year. But the home segment could also grow strongly again. According to a survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of BSW-Solar at the end of last year, around 1.5 million property owners are planning to build a new solar system in 2024.

According to figures from the Federal Network Agency, around 220,000 balcony power plants with a gross output of 200 MW were registered between January and June 2024, with an average gross output of around 900 watts per unit. Overall, two-thirds of the installed solar modules in the first half of the year were building systems, which also include balcony power plants. There were also improvements for ground-mounted PV in the course of the solar package, but according to industry experts, these could be even more comprehensive.

Approvals for wind power are positive

Onshore wind power, on the other hand, recorded a comparatively low net increase in the first half of the year. The BNetzA has registered an increase of only 1.5 percent in output since the end of 2023. This was due, among other things, to a strikingly high number of permanent shutdowns of older plants in the second quarter of 2024. For every 130 new plants (600 MW) commissioned, there are 173 decommissioned plants (230 MW), according to the authority. With an increase of 377 MW of new capacity in the Baltic and North Seas, offshore wind energy has increased more significantly than before since the beginning of the year. Overall, onshore wind capacity is currently just under 62 GW and offshore at 8.85 GW.

However, the approvals for onshore wind power are positive. In the first half of 2024 alone, almost 5.6 GW of capacity was approved. This corresponds to an increase of almost 70 percent compared to the same period last year. In all likelihood, this will once again exceed the total number of permits from 2023 (7.7 GW), according to the BNetzA. Bureaucratic hurdles are also increasingly being reduced in the wind sector, so that a further acceleration from planning to approval to construction is expected.

A milestone for the industry was the reform of the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG). In an approval procedure, according to the BImSchG, all environmental impacts of a new plant, such as fossil industry operations but also wind turbines, had to be extensively examined. Approval procedures could also be extended indefinitely due to objections from public and private objectors. In addition, applications always had to be submitted to the authorities in paper form. Regulations that will be abolished with the amendment.

However, further improvements for the renewable energy sector are called for. The implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) III is an important issue for the additional acceleration of planning and approval, but also the amendment to the Building Act, further adjustments to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and the Energy Industry Act, as well as facilitations for so-called energy sharing, said the President of the German Renewable Energy Association, Simone Peter, recently in an interview with energiezukunft. "A very large and urgent project is a new electricity market design that does justice to system-setting renewables. We have contributed our positions to the Platform for a Climate-Neutral Electricity System (PKNS) run by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. We need much more flexibility to balance wind and solar." Mg

Addendum on 23.07.2024: In its first version, the article contained an incorrect figure for the photovoltaic expansion in the first half of the year. This error has been corrected.

sumber : Expansion and approvals of renewable energies on the right track - energiezukunft