Executive summary

The Climate Policy Initiative finds that while sufficient capital exists to meet Germany's renewable energy targets, achieving them cost-effectively requires a diverse investor base and specific policy refinements. Key risks to cost-effectiveness include auction delays, shortened revenue support periods, and a lack of system flexibility to handle negative electricity prices, which could increase bid prices for onshore wind and offshore projects.

• There is sufficient capital available to meet Germany's renewable energy targets if an appropriate policy framework is established, though achieving these goals at the lowest cost requires a diverse mix of investors.
• Incentive auction design impacts costs and investor diversity; specifically, a 12-month delay in offshore development caused by gaps between auction rounds can increase bid prices by 21% or more if those expectations are reflected in bids. To maintain a diverse investor base, simplified bidding processes or exemptions for smaller projects are necessary as small investors find complex processes costly.
• The design of revenue support significantly affects energy costs. Reducing the support period from 20 years to 15 years could increase energy costs by 15-18% depending on the technology, whereas linking support to inflation could decrease energy costs by 18-20% in real terms, depending on inflation and institutional investor appetite.
• End users are a critical source of investment, providing over 25% of equity investment in 2015 and half of the potential equity investment for 2020.
• Current energy market design is not suited for a system dominated by renewable energy and could result in zero or negative electricity prices for more than 1,000 hours per year by 2030. Furthermore, without other flexibility measures, current curtailment proposals for negative price hours could increase onshore wind bid prices by 17% in 2020.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (n.d.). Executive summary. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Overview-of-most-important-policy-issues.pdf

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. Executive summary. n.d. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Overview-of-most-important-policy-issues.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=Executive summary |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Overview-of-most-important-policy-issues.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiativendexecutive, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{Executive summary}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Overview-of-most-important-policy-issues.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }