German govt agrees renewables expansion plan

Berlin, April 7 Germany's government agreed on a broad legislative package to accelerate the expansion of renewable energy, the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action said in a statement.

The package will now be submitted to Parliament, Xinhua news agency reported.

"In the future, renewable energy will be in the public interest and serve public safety. This is crucial to increase the pace," said Energy Minister Robert Habeck.

The expansion of renewable energy would be "taken to a whole new level," according to the Ministry.

In order to achieve these targets, onshore wind energy must be increased by 10 gigawatts (GW) annually to a total installed capacity of around 115 GW in 2030. Solar power installations are to grow 22 GW per year, targeting a total capacity of 215 GW in 2030.

Besides the worsening climate crisis, the Russia-Ukraine conflict shows how important it is to "get out of fossil fuels and consistently drive forward the expansion of renewables," Habeck said. "We are doing this courageously and consistently."

Germany has already announced plans to halve Russian oil imports by the middle of this year and become almost independent by the end of 2022. Dependency on Russian gas is to be largely overcome by mid-2024.

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