After the parliamentary elections: drive climate protection forward, strengthen industry

The SPD candidate for Chancellor and current Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz has good chances of becoming the next Chancellor. He visited SMA at the beginning of September.

Germany voted. The exploratory talks regarding the formation of a new German Federal Government are already ramping up. The demonstrations by the Fridays for Future movement in which more than 600,000 people participated in 470 locations last Friday impressively underlined once more that climate policy must occupy a central role in the negotiations. If the fight against the climate crisis is to be effective, the new Federal Government must not simply settle for “more of the same.” We need faster and far more substantial expansion of renewable energy sources.

Efficient decarbonization of our way of life can succeed only if further sectors such as transportation and heating are electrified and the power needed for that comes exclusively from sustainable renewable sources. This means that at least 15 GW of new photovoltaic power must be installed in Germany every year – three times the current amount. To meet this target, the new Federal Government must now adopt appropriate measures that put the spotlight on supply reliability, climate protection and acceptance.

Power supply reliability in Germany is at a high level. The switch to sustainable renewable energies will not change this situation. However, the prerequisite is that the significantly higher expansion capacities required for a rapid switch to renewables can be made available by European manufacturers even in times of crisis. To prevent future supply bottlenecks, for example in electronic components for renewable technologies, we therefore need a strategy to bring important parts of the value chain back to Germany and Europe. This can create a large number of new jobs and secure the supply of renewable energies for the long term.

Climate protection can work only if all parts of our society are involved. At present, there is a lack of accompanying measures to reduce bureaucracy and provide a subsidy-free market impulse for the construction of photovoltaic systems on all suitable roofs. A new Federal Government must not accept with a shrug the fact that large commercial buildings are still being planned and built without PV systems, for example.

Things are accepted if they work. That applies to PV systems on private homes or apartment buildings as well as ground-based PV systems. The next Federal Government must create a framework with which Germany can achieve its climate goals and open up profitable and sustainable business areas in the process. The cost advantage of solar energy must filter through to users. The fact that the EEG apportionment on the self-consumption of solar power has not been completely abolished to date and that municipalities are given hardly any opportunities to quickly and easily install solar systems on their own buildings and thus live up to their exemplary function, for example, reveals a lack of courage to unleash the full potential of solar energy and really turbocharge climate protection up to this point.

My appeal to the political parties: what we need now is brave, swift and decisive action to decarbonize our way of life and ensure that future generations can also live a free life of self-determination.

Here SMA CEO Jürgen Reinert writes about topics that move him.