London, 10 October (Argus) — German environment minister Peter Altmaier will present his proposals on how to move forward with a “fundamental reform of the [country's] renewable energy act (EEG)”, the environment ministry said.

The FDP, junior coalition partner in the German government and led by economy minister Philipp Rosler, already presented its vision on subsidising renewable energy in September.

The FPD had proposed a move away from fixed feed-in tariffs and towards a quota system to effectively integrate the rising output from renewable power, which is expected to make up around 25pc of the German generation mix in 2012, into the German power market.

But Altmaier, from the ruling CDU party, had previously warned against overhasty reforms ahead of the next general elections in autumn 2013 and seemed lukewarm about the idea of completely abolishing the EEG — and with the feed-in tariff system.

Altmaier's proposals on 11 October come amid an intensifying debate over the increasing cost of subsidising renewable power, with German transmission system operators expected to announce a sharp rise of a levy on renewable energy by 15 October at the latest.

Most experts expect the levy to rise above €50/MWh in 2013, up from €35.92/MWh in 2012. But grid operator BNA today claimed it does not expect the levy to rise above €70/MWh in 2014.

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