Bundesnetzagentur publishes new photovoltaic plants figures and EEG Statistical Report 2009
Kurth: "Solar expansion in 2010 totalling capacity of 7,400 MW is almost twice as high as 2009"
Year of issue 2011
Date of issue 2011.03.21
Bundesnetzagentur published its Statistical Report on the Final Annual Account under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz) (EEG) for 2009 today. For the first time, the report contains figures on direct sales, the green electricity privilege and on own consumption of solar power. The Bundesnetzagentur also published preliminary figures for newly-installed photovoltaic (PV) plants in 2010 today. Year-on-year, the capacity of solar PV installations increased by just under 75 percent to around 17,300 MW in 2010.
Solar PV capacity installed in 2010
"The solar industry skyrocketed last year with around 7,400 MW of solar capacities being installed in 2010. This means the new solar capacity installed in 2010 was almost twice as high as that of 2009", says Matthias Kurth, President of Bundesnetzagentur.
The actual expansion in 2010 is way below the predicted increase of 9,500 MW. The transmission system operators set the EEG surcharge on 15 October of each year for the following year on the basis of solar capacity estimates. For the year 2011, the EEG surcharge is 3.53 Cent/kWh. The EEG surcharge is used to finance the difference between the feed-in tariffs paid to plant operators for renewable energy and the revenue generated from sales of the energy fed into the grid at the energy exchange.
"Solar expansion is based on the investment decisions taken by a large number of very different potential investors which means it is difficult to predict. In the past, solar expansion was regularly underestimated. It is not yet possible to foresee how the high capacity predicted for 2010 will affect the EEG reallocation charge since the level of the EEG surcharge depends on a number of other influential factors. Weather conditions and the trend in prices on the energy exchange, inter alia, determine the level of the EEG surcharge. If the EEG surcharge for 2011 turns out to be too high, interest will be charged on the surpluses in the transmission system operators’ EEG account and will be offset accordingly when the EEG surcharge is determined for 2012", Mr. Kurth says.
Statistical Report on the Final Annual Account under the Renewable Energy Sources Act 2009
The final annual account for 2009 shows that the capacity of newly installed systems paid for under the Renewable Energy Sources Act had risen to 41,355 MW by 31 December 2009. This corresponds to a growth rate of 19 percent vis-à-vis 2008. Of the newly installed capacity, wind power accounted for a share of 61 percent, followed by solar energy which accounted for 24 percent and biomass which accounted for 10 percent.
The volume of power fed-in was just under 75,000 GWh which means it was 5 percent above the value for 2008. Here too, wind power was the main source of energy accounting for 51 percent, followed by biomass accounting for 31 percent and solar energy accounting for 9 percent. Payments made to producers of renewable energy under the EEG in 2009 totalled EUR 11 billion, with wind power, solar energy and biomass accounting for around 30 percent respectively. In 2009, the average feed-in tariff was 14.36 Cent per kWh.
In 2009, power totalling 318 GWh generated from renewable energy sources was sold directly, corresponding to a mere 0.4 percent of the total volume of the power generated from renewable energy sources. Energy utilities currently do not have to pay the EEG surcharge if at least 50 percent of the electricity delivered is from renewable sources and the power delivered was marketed directly rather than receiving the tariff laid down under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) (so-called green electricity privilege). The total amount of electricity supplied is then exempt from the surcharge.
Bundesnetzagentur reviews the EEG data submitted by distribution system operators, transmission system operators and electricity suppliers each year and publishes the most important results in the Statistical Report in aggregate form.
The EEG Statistical Report 2009 and the latest figures on the capacity of solar photovoltaic installations for 2010 have been published on Bundesnetzagentur’s website.