German Industry Turns to Solar in Race to Cut Energy Costs Can Africa Take a Cue?

Since the war in Ukraine and the sudden drop in Russia fossil fuel exports to Germany, Berlin has introduced laws to accelerate solar power expansion, part of its plan to cover 80% of the country’s energy from renewables by 2030.

Encouraged by a feed-in tariff providing a guaranteed price to renewable energy producers selling their power, as well as reduced solar panel costs, German companies are increasingly turning to solar to get around high energy costs.

Although Germany has Europe’s biggest capacity of solar and wind power generation, its small and medium-sized companies have yet to benefit from lower electricity prices because of high grid fees and taxes they must pay. By generating their own solar power, they avoid those fees and taxes.

Companies consumed around 69% of Germany’s national electricity in 2023, data by the BDEW utilities association showed.