German Federal Government Passes National Action Plan for Renewable Energy

On August 4, 2010, the German Federal Government Cabinet formally adopted the "National Renewable Energy Action Plan." This action plan is an important measure for the German Federal Government to implement its obligations under the EU Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC). The action plan sets a binding target for renewable energy consumption to account for 18% or even 20% of total energy consumption in Germany by the end of 2020 (currently this ratio is approximately 10%). The Federal Minister for the Environment, Rotgen, said: “The plan shows the ambition of the German federal government to make progress on the renewable energy road. In order to achieve this action plan, we must continue to vigorously increase energy efficiency, expand grid size and storage capacity, Develop marine wind power and increase power trade."

The action plan also stipulates the specific development goals of various industries, such as: heating/cooling industry, renewable energy utilization rate should reach 15.5%; transportation industry, renewable energy utilization rate should reach 13.2%; power industry, renewable energy Power generation should reach 38.6%. These newly expanded development goals have not been included in the overall development target of 18%, because the German federal government has already implemented the overall renewable energy development goals through legislative and administrative directives before the action plan was issued. In the industry sector, for example, by 2020 renewable energy will account for at least 30% of the total electricity consumption.