The German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur – BNetzA) announced that the feed-in tariffs for electricity generated by photovoltaic installations commencing operation between 1 November 2012 and 31 January 2013 will decrease by 2.5% per month.
The BNetzA continuously monitors the installation of new photovoltaic systems to set the feed-in tariffs withing the framework provided in the Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, “EEG”). According to sec. 20a EEG the political corridor for additional installation of photovoltaic energy was set between 2,500 and 3,500 MWp per calendar year. Exceeding these limits, feed-in tariffs for new installations are not only subject to the standard decrease of 1% per month (cf. sec. 20b para. 1 EEG) but to an additional decrease of 0.4 to 1.8%, depending on the extent of such exceedance (sec. 20b para. 2 EEG).
The additional PV capacity in July, August and September amounted to 1,849.171 MWp in total.
| Month | Capacity (kWp) |
| July 2012 | 538,714 |
| August 2012 | 329,628 |
| September 2012 | 980,829 |
| Total | 1,849,171 |
Multiplied by 4, this would lead to an annual additional capacity of almost 7.4 GWp. Based on this calculation, the total would exceed the corridor’s maximum of 3.5 GWp by 3.9 GWp. If the corridor is exceeded by more than 3 GWp but less than 4 GWp, the additional reduction is 1.5%.
Consequently, the latest developments have led the BNetzA to set the overall monthly decrease at 2.5% (1% + 1.5%) for the next three months.
The new feed-in tariffs shall be as follows:
| Installations pursuant to § 32(2) EEG | Installations pursuant to § 32(1) EEG | |||||
| (rooftop) | (freestanding) | |||||
| upt to 10 KWp | up to 40 kWp | up to 1 MWp | up t o 10 MWp | upt to 10 MWp | ||
| start of operation | ||||||
| from 01.11.2012 | 17.90 | 16.98 | 15.15 | 12.39 | 12.39 | |
| degression | 2.5 percent | |||||
| from 01.12.2012 | 17.45 | 16.56 | 14.77 | 12.08 | 12.08 | |
| Degression | 2.5 percent | |||||
| from 01.01.2013 | 17.02 | 16.14 | 14.40 | 11.78 | 11.78 | |
| Degression | 2.5 percent | |||||
In January the BNetzA will publish new degression rates for the upcoming months.
Source: BNetzA [1]
- German feed-in tariffs 2012 [2]
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- EEG Clearing Agency Advises on Grandfathering Clause for Solar Feed-in Tariffs [4]
- EEG Amendment Cutting Solar Tariffs Promulgated [5]
- Bundesrat Clears Reduced German Solar Feed-in Tariffs [3]
- 2.3 GWp of Newly Installed German PV Capacity by End of April 2012 [6]
- Bundestag Approved Mediation Committee Compromises for Solar FIT Reduction and CCS Bill [7]
- Mediation Committee Compromise for Solar Feed-in Tariff Reduction [8]
- Solar Feed-in Tariffs Cuts For 1 July 2012 If No New Agreement Will be Reached [9]
- Still No Agreement in Mediation Committee with Respect to Solar Feed-In Cuts, Energy-Efficient Renovation and CCS [10]
- Federal Council Stops Solar Feed-in Tariff Cuts and Invokes Mediation Committee [11]
- Parliament Approves EEG Amendment Cutting Solar Feed-in Tariffs [12]
- Bundestag and Bundesrat to Vote on Solar Feed-in Tariff Cuts 29/30 March – Latest Changes [13]
- Bundestag Debates Implementation of Energiewende – Solar Feed-in Tariff Cut Timetable [14]
- First Parliamentary Readings of EEG Amendment Cutting Solar Feed-in Tariffs and Amendment of KWKG [15]
- Federal Cabinet Approves Solar Feed-in Tariff Cuts [16]
