Minister Altmaier: Federal Government and Länder send out strong joint signal for the success of the energy transition!

At yesterday’s discussion between Chancellor Merkel and the heads of government of the Länder, the Federal Government and the Länder arrived at a joint resolution on the future implementation of the energy transition. The resolution addresses key challenges which arise on the road to the attainment of the energy and climate targets and cites wide-ranging action to tackle them. It also considers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the energy sector, electricity prices and ongoing planning and approval procedures. The Federal Government and the Länder underscored the close cooperation on mitigating the effects of the pandemic.

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier: “In this resolution, the Federal Government and Länder are sending out a strong joint signal for the success of the energy transition. I find it particularly important that we are planning and acting together here. After all, the energy transition is implemented locally, in the Länder. I am particularly glad that all sides accept shared responsibility for the implementation of the energy transition and place the shared goal ahead of individual interests in the interest of a balanced compromise. In this way, we are all pulling in the same direction and pooling our resources to progress the energy transition. Against the background of the economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic, we need to take this opportunity to ensure that energy policies can help to revive the economy, to promote the development of innovative energy and climate technologies, and to trigger strong climate action.”

The substance of the resolution is focused on measures to lessen the burden on electricity prices, to expand renewable energy and the necessary electricity grids, to maintain the security of the electricity supply, and to adapt the rules on sector coupling and the role of hydrogen in the energy transition. The Federal Government and the Länder have agreed on specific measures to attain the target of having 65% of gross electricity consumption covered by renewable energy by 2030, to speed up planning and approval procedures, and to improve the authorisation situation relating to the expansion of the use of renewable energy and of the electricity grids. The resolution (in German) can be downloaded here.