German Economy Minister Robert Habeck aims to accelerate investments in a climate-neutral economy with a new federal aid program published on Monday.
The ministry announced that the regulation, which is based on a new EU framework for state aid, will allow for Germany’s federal and state governments to fund so-called “transformation technologies.’’
Subsidies will be granted for the production of batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, electrolyzes, equipment for the capture, use and storage of carbon dioxide and the production of key components.
The aid is to be given in the form of direct grants or in the form of tax benefits. The total amount of aid is a maximum of €150 million ($165 million) per company.
“We need far more capacity for the production of wind turbines, photovoltaic systems, heat pumps, batteries as well as their components.
“We want a technically sovereign industry that can produce large numbers of plants for the generation of electricity from renewable energies in Germany,’’ Habeck explained.
According to the ministry, support programs by the federal or state governments that meet the regulation requirements no longer have to be notified to the European Commission under state aid law.
This should save a lot of time and reduce bureaucracy, the ministry said.
Habeck had repeatedly criticized that decisions at the EU level took too long.
