German minister eyes boost to offshore windfarms
Date: 30-Jan-03
Country: GERMANY
In a speech to representatives of Germany's renewable energy industry, Trittin said he also wanted to modify the legislation to favour the upgrading of windfarms, suggesting subsidies for those in unfavourable sites could be reduced.
He also said he was examining how to extend a programme to encourage the construction of solar power plants and increasing subsidies for small biomass plants.
Under Germany's March 2000 Renewable Energy Sources Act electricity grid operators have to connect their networks to renewable energy plants and effectively subsidise them by purchasing supplies at favourable rates.
Trittin said he hoped the changes to the law would be roughly neutral on the overall cost to consumers of the subsidies. At the moment the renewable energy act costs the average family around eight euros a year, he said.