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Merkel Coalition Weighs Big Increase in Onshore Wind and Solar

Merkel Coalition Weighs Big Increase in Onshore Wind and Solar

(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel’s sweeping plans to cut carbon pollution to meet international climate pledges includes moves to ramp up onshore wind and solar power, according to a draft proposal from her coalition.

Merkel’s cabinet is expected to reach Friday a preliminary climate agreement in Berlin on how to cut emissions across the economy. It will also reaffirm a goal to bump up green electricity’s share to 65% of the nation’s power mix by 2030, from about 40% today. The moves will result in a big jump in onshore wind and solar, the draft showed.

The coalition aims to boost the current capacity of onshore wind to about 80 gigawatts by 2030 from slightly over 50 gigawatts now, according to the draft published on Monday by three ruling parties and seen by Bloomberg. Solar power will increase by 77% to to 85 gigawatts.

Merkel Coalition Weighs Big Increase in Onshore Wind and Solar

While cabinet ministers are still poring over the proposals, it is the first time that the government has given a clue how it plans to shape the development of clean power over the next, critical, decade. Germany, Europe’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, will likely miss its carbon-emissions reduction target next year. Merkel has pledged to double down to avoid the same mistake for the next decade.

The moves to boost onshore wind and solar entail annual growth targets of 3.9 gigawatts and 3.5 gigawatts, respectively, according to the 138-page draft.

A spokeswoman for the Economy and Energy Ministry declined to comment.

To achieve the capacity targets, the government aims to cut red tape that’s caused delays in construction approvals for new wind parks and to abandon the current subsidy cap for solar expansion of 52 gigawatts.

--With assistance from Arne Delfs.

To contact the reporters on this story: Brian Parkin in Berlin at bparkin@bloomberg.net;William Wilkes in Frankfurt at wwilkes1@bloomberg.net;Birgit Jennen in Berlin at bjennen1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Lars Paulsson, Andrew Reierson

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