Oliver Hummel makes no modest announcements: "A new era in the electricity market on breaks", says the Executive Board of düsseldorf-based natural power AG. The is building in the Bavarian town of Parsberg-Eichensee a new solar Park. The is not a planned capacity of approximately 20 mega watt hours excessively large. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it is produced completely without funding and guaranteed feed-in tariff, the EEG surcharge is dependent. In short: Not a Cent of tax money goes to Parsberg-Eichensee.

This is in Germany, so far a rarity. The EEG levy solar systems in Germany for a long time financially. This was initially necessary, because the necessary modules were expensive. However, prices have been falling for years. Today, they cost less than a quarter of the price of 2010. Accordingly, the prices for solar parks decreased overall.

the Largest solar Park in Germany in Brandenburg without subsidies planned

Today, a kilowatt-hour of solar electricity in the production costs only to a maximum of five cents, for private installations on house roofs, there are about twice as much. Sell, he is currently about 28 cents per kilowatt-hour. In the case of such differences, the operators of solar systems are no longer reliant on state support.

And as a result, more and more Parks such as those of natural electricity. The düsseldorf-based company is currently building several smaller plants. The energy giant EnBW wants to build this year in Brandenburg, the largest solar Park in Germany with a capacity of more than 180 megawatts of 164 hectares of land – also completely without support via the EEG levy.

Germany is building much – but too little

So the Rate increases because in Germany one of the newly built solar plants strong again. According to the Fraunhofer Institute, it was in 2019, around 3.6 GW, 24 percent more than in the previous year and three times as much as in 2014. The good news: Germany is in Europe the country with the most solar power. The bad news: in Order to achieve the own goals would have to be built in Germany per year, actually, 5 to 10 gigawatts of solar power.

solar power currently makes up 8.2 percent of consumption in Germany. Overall, the share of renewable energy in 2019 was 43 percent. By 2030 it is expected to rise to 65 per cent, the coalition Treaty of CDU/CSU and the SPD does.

However, The direction is right. The Expansion of solar parks in Germany was broke after the reduction of subsidies from the EEG levy in 2012 dramatically. 2011 have been added in the best year 7,91 gigawatts. Of formerly more than 100,000 employees in the German solar industry, only approximately 24,000 are now left.

New model Contract makes Boom possible

As a replacement for the guaranteed feed-in tariff operators close nowadays, so-called "Power Purchase Agreements", in short PPA. Natural power has done this with its plant in Bavaria. About the contracts, the operators connect directly with your customers. In the natural flow case, the Statkraft is a Norwegian energy company. The obligation in the PPA, the electricity from Parsberg-Eichensee until the end of 2031 to remove and re-sold him to the end consumer. In other cases, the Solar farm-operator households supply directly.

That sounds like a banal business model, is in the energy industry, but in fact a new development. Usually there were just two parties: The energy provider, the power plant and grid, RWE or E. ON operates – for example, the end customer, either a private household or a company.

With PPAs are now switched companies in between. There are now the producers of energy, so the solar Park operator, which sells its power to an agent who marketed them to end consumers. For the operator, the advantage is that you can conclude long-term purchase contracts, and thus planning security for larger projects. The mediator, however, can fully concentrate on the marketing of the electricity.

solar power is financially becoming more and more attractive

In European countries such PPA models for years Usus. In Germany, you only have now to enter, because of the EEG surcharge, which they made previously, for solar Park operator superfluous. 2019 Germany was to Spain and France on the 3rd place in the volume of newly completed PPA contracts.

Come from solar farms in the future, more and more frequently, without support, that makes the technology compared to other forms of energy becoming more and more attractive. So nuclear energy is already up and running in two years, the end for coal-fired power plants comes in 2038 and will get a Co2-certificates are becoming more and more expensive.

Even if solar power would continue as in the past, funded via the EEG levy, would be for the company a good business. The indirect support cost the taxpayers although, to date, a total of more than 70 billion euros, but the brown coal industry caused in the past year alone cost of 78 billion euros.

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Date Of Update: 16 February 2020, 22:00