German economy minister focused on reforms to align renewable energy expansion with grid improvements.

Germany's Economy Minister Katherina Reiche advocates for renewable energy to take on some responsibilities in the energy transition. She defends a controversial leaked draft law from her ministry that would lower the priority of connecting renewables to the power grid. In an interview with Handelsblatt, Reiche emphasized that “no decisions have been made” yet, but suggested that “grid operators should be allowed to prioritize connection requests.”

The proposed bill from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) ministry has faced criticism from the renewable energy sector, members of the CDU's coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and the opposition.

According to Germany’s Renewable Energy Act (EEG), grid operators are required to prioritize connection requests from renewable energy projects and purchase the electricity they generate. This sometimes includes compensating operators to shut down renewable installations when the grid is at full capacity, a process known as curtailment. This arrangement provides investors with certainty and financing for new renewable initiatives.

The leaked reform plans would alter this in a forthcoming revision of renewable energy legislation. In regions where over three percent of the previous year's electricity generation could not enter the grid due to constraints, grid operators would only prioritize connecting renewable energy projects if developers agree to forgo curtailment payments for up to a decade. The draft would also allow grid operators to partially charge renewable investors for grid expansion and modernization costs.

The economy ministry is developing strategies “to better align the expansion of renewables and grids,” as highlighted in the government’s energy transition “reality check” report from last year.