Germany may reach 52 GW of installed solar PV capacity as early as 2014, at which level the government would stop any further subsidies to new solar PV installations, the environment minister Peter Altmaier said Wednesday.
"If we continue to drive the energy transition without coordination, we may end up with twice as much wind and solar capacity as we actually need," the minister told German daily Passauer Neue Presse.
"I want to limit [government] spending, that's why we found a compromise, which includes an end to any new subsidies once 52 GW [of solar PV capacity] is installed. This could already be the case in 2014 or 2015," he told the paper in the interview, linked to the ministry's website. Germany has become the world's largest market for solar PV with an installed capacity of 27 GW since the government introduced generous feed-in-tariffs more 10 years ago.
In June, the government and Germany's states reached a compromise on proposed cuts to solar power subsidies. The deal also included an annual target range of 2.5-3.5 GW of new installations without further cuts.
Solar power contributed around 10% to total electricity demand during May when monthly solar PV output rose for the first time above 4 TWh, up 40% compared with the same month last year, according to the energy lobby group BDEW. Hourly solar PV output hit a record on May 25 when it reached 22.12 GW, data from EEX's transparency platform show.
