water protection
WWF welcomes planned elimination of hydropower subsidies
Water shoots from the outlet of a hydroelectric power station. “The promotion of small hydroelectric power plants via the EEG has done a lot of damage over the last two decades,” complains the WWF. Photo: Lino Mirgeler/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The federal government no longer wants to support the fact that electricity comes from smaller hydropower plants. This was criticized by several associations. The WWF, on the other hand, thinks this is the right plan – but demands even more.
The environmental organization WWF supports the federal government’s plan to no longer subsidize smaller hydropower plants for electricity generation. This was announced by the organization in Berlin.
Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement in the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), for example to extend the funding freeze to systems of up to 1 megawatt – instead of the planned 500 kilowatts.
“The promotion of small hydroelectric power plants via the EEG has caused a lot of damage in the last two decades, and it is good if no new small plants are supported,” said Tobias Schäfer, officer for water protection at WWF Germany.
Hydropower has therefore played a major role in the extinction of species in water bodies and the collapse in fish stocks. The importance of the smaller hydropower plants for electricity generation is marginal. In addition, the WWF called for the federal and state governments to create financial incentives for the decommissioning of small hydropower plants.
According to the “Easter package” for the expansion of renewable energies presented by Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) at the beginning of April, small hydropower plants up to 500 kilowatts should no longer be funded “because of their special water-ecological effects”.