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Uncertainty on future pricing of feed-in-tariff for geothermal in Germany

Uncertainty on future pricing of feed-in-tariff for geothermal in Germany Unterhaching Geothermal Power Plant, Germany (source: flickr/ sanfamedia.com, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 29 May 2013

Geothermal developers are delaying project decisions in Germany due to uncertainties on pricing for geothermal as part of Germany's renewable energy feed-in-tariff prior to federal elections in the fall of 2013.

With upcoming elections and discussions about a potential cut on pricing as part of the feed-in-tariff  (FIT) system in Germany, developers are pushing decisions on further development.

Later this fall Germany will vote a new federal parliament and with an ongoing public debate on increasing electricity prices, politicians are currently and this publicly thinking about a cut in pricing available to developers and operators of renewable energy projects.

Developer Geoenergie Bayern has now stopped its project in Uttingen, Bavaria stating that the “price development for the feed-in-tariff for geothermal projects is simply too unpredictable”, and that “political decisions on the FIT pricing possibly cuts too much into the economics of geothermal development”. While certain decisions have been reversed, it is seen as very likely that there will be further cuts after the federal elections.

Source: Augsburger Allgemeine