German upper house halts govt plan to cut solar subsidies by 30%

11 May 2012 17:41  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--Germany’s legislative upper house on Friday rejected a government plan to cut subsidies to the solar industry by up to 30%.

The Bundesrat, which represents Germany’s states, referred the measure to a conciliation committee.

Winfried Kretschmann, minister president of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, said that solar firms – in particular smaller- and mid-sized producers – were not able to cope with the planned cuts.

Rainer Haseloff, minister president of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, home of much of Germany’s solar industry, said the cuts would need to be implemented in a manner that did not jeopardise the viability of the industry.

Germany subsidises the solar industry by granting producers of solar energy, including domestic households with photovoltaic panels on their roofs, favourable feed-in tariffs for their electricity.

A number of German solar firms recently filed for insolvency, citing tough market competition.

Many chemical producers have targeted solar and photovoltaic markets as an outlet for their products.

In related news, German specialty chemicals major Evonik said on Friday that asset impairment losses in its photovoltaic business were partly to blame for a 38% year-on-year decline in its 2012 first-quarter net income.

By: Stefan Baumgarten
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