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Act on Granting Priority to Renewable Energy Sources (Renewable Energy Sources Act) from March 29th, 2000

A decisive breakthrough in the development of sustainable energy provision has been achieved with the adoption of the Renewable Energy Sources Act ("Act on Granting Priority to Renewable Energy Sources"). Having been passed by the German Bundestag on February 25, 2000, the act received the approval of the Bundesrat (upper chamber) on 17 March.

Although the previous law, the Electricity Feed Act (Stromeinspeisungsgesetz; StrEG), was successful, it had to be replaced. There were a number of reasons for updating the legislation: the growth of the green electricity output beyond the five percent ceiling previously set for support entitlement, the need for a national distribution of costs beyond the regions, the lack of planning and investment security, and the adjustments required for compliance with EU directives. The Federal Government had to act fast as more and more renewable energy investment projects were being shelved.