Subsidies for conventional energy in Germany two times higher than for renewables

Aug 20, 2013 - Renewable energy in Germany was subsidised with about EUR 17 billion (USD 22.7bn) in 2012, compared with EUR 40 billion given for conventional energy, a study of Green Budget Germany ordered by German green power vendor Greenpeace Energy showed today.

The fact that subsidies for conventional energy are two times higher contradicts to the attempts of the nuclear and coal lobby to blame renewables as the main electricity price trigger, Marcel Keiffenheim, head of energy policy at Greenpeace Energy, said.

The researchers at Green Budget Germany, known in German as Forum Oekologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft (FOeS), have calculated the hidden costs related with coal and nuclear energy - costs which are not included directly in the bills but which are borne by the population.

The hidden costs are related with state subsidies such as financial support and tax benefits as well as external costs of energy providers, including for climate protection and follow-up costs for possible accidents. Hidden costs for brown coal were estimated at EUR 19.9 billion, for black coal at EUR 12.4 billion and for nuclear power at EUR 11 billion. Natural gas accounted for EUR 3 billion. Compared with the data from the current Renewable Energy Act, this sum is two times higher.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.34)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!