German government backs massive renewables expansion plan

Cabinet agrees raft of legal amendments designed to double share of renewables in the energy mix by 2030

Germany’s cabinet has agreed a sweeping package of legislation that calls for the share of renewables in the country’s energy mix to nearly double to 80pc by 2030. The ‘Easter package’, which the government describes as the biggest amendment to German energy policy for decades, will now go to the parliament for further debate. The package amends several of Germany’s key energy and planning laws. If passed, it will write into a law ambitious targets that would triple the rate at which the country is expanding its renewable power capacity. The new package is based on a strategy set out by the coalition government in February and designed to triple Germany’s rate of emissions reductions between