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Policy on renewable energy
In the framework of the global climate change convention of Kyoto, Germany has agreed to the target of reducing the emission of gases relevant to the global warming effect by 21% between the years 1990 and 2010. This of course includes the intensified use of renewable energy sources.
On January 1st 1997, the EU directive 96/92/EG on the liberalisation of the energy markets of the Member States came into force. In April 1998, this directive was implemented in German law. The first effects of the liberalisation became noticeable for private end users mid 1999, when a marketing campaign of several nation-wide utilities addressed private end users. The association agreement of several bodies in the energy business of December 13 1999 improved the conditions for free trade of electricity and green energy by setting obligatory criteria for the determination of costs for the use of grids which opens the access of all suppliers to grids and end users.
In addition to this, the law for the introduction of an ecological tax reform of March 3 1999 improved the competitiveness of green energy by imposing a tax on CO2-emitting energy sources and excepting renewable energies from this. The German parliament accepted the 'renewable energies law' on February 25 2000 which guarantees cost-covering feed-in tariffs for electricity from renewable energies.
The 100.000 roofs program was published by the German government on Jan 21 1999 and subsidises the installation of photo-voltaic systems with an interest-free loan or a cash subsidy.
Several federal states have programs that grant subsidy for the investment in renewable energy systems e.g. the REN-program of Nordrhein-Westfalen.
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