Dispute within German government over use of agricultural land for solar power plants

A dispute is brewing between Germany’s ministries of economic affairs, agriculture and the environment over the use of agricultural land for solar power plants. While the Ministry for Economic Affairs, led by Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, wants to use farmland for this purpose, the other two ministries have reservations. The report was published by the international news service Clean Energy Wire.

Solar power plants are expected to help Germany achieve its target of an 80% share of renewables in electricity consumption by 2030, followed by carbon neutrality in the power sector by 2035. Their installed capacity is therefore expected to rise from just under 67 GW to 215 GW by 2030.

To reach this figure, Germany needs to significantly accelerate the development of these sources and achieve annual additions of 22 GW of newly installed capacity by 2026. By comparison, solar power plants with a total installed capacity of 7.2 GW were commissioned in Germany last year, and the country is targeting 9 GW this year.