06 February 2012
Germany recently passed the 20% mark for renewable energy in the electricity mix. And the federal KfW bank group has introduced a new plan to further accelerate this shift to renewables with increases in multimillion-euro business loans now available—one of the focuses of E-World 2012.
As more renewable energy is generated, energy management and storage are also receiving increased focus. Germany Trade & Invest, Germany’s foreign trade and inward investment promotion agency, together with representatives of Germany's six E-energy model regions, will be at this year's E-World, 7-9 February in Essen, to highlight opportunities for international companies in these growing market segments.
The new KfW plan outlines efforts to ease the financial burden of a wide-ranging shift to renewable energy. Previously, loans were available to small businesses for their efforts to move to renewables, and these have been expanded to cover companies with annual revenue of up to 3 billion euro. At the same time, loans are available to support research and development of energy storage, transmission, production, and efficiency techniques with grants up to EUR 25 million, marking an increase.
In light of last year's decision to phase out nuclear power, Germany is further ramping up investments in renewable energy. Already, Germany's photovoltaic market represents nearly half of all global installations worldwide. In wind power, Germany leads Europe in total installations and is currently preparing for a major expansion in the offshore segment.
