EPIA(歐洲太陽能產業協會)主席英格瑪·威廉(Ingmar Wilhelm)日前將近期的上網電價補貼削減舉動形容為“苛刻”，并發表了致德國總理默克爾的一封公開信，為反對對相關法案進行修改。英文編輯喬杜里女士參加了與三月五日在德國柏林舉行的逾兩萬人參與的反對示威游行，此次游行清楚地顯示出產業對于該國政府大幅修改補貼計劃等的不滿。

目前，在面對整個產業所表達出如此強烈的反對聲音后，政府是否仍舊實施削減政策還是個未知數。


Dear Chancellor Merkel,

As the voice of the solar photovoltaic industry in Europe, EPIA is concerned together with many other companies, business leaders and associations about your Government’s decision to dramatically reduce feed-in tariffs for PV in Germany.

We would like to stress that this decision sends the wrong message about renewables at a critical time for the industry and for efforts by Germany and the greater EU to achieve our future energy goals. No one believes that PV support schemes should last forever – not even for much longer – and everyone knows that these need to be smart, sustainable and properly adapted to changing market conditions. However, this does not mean that they should be reduced all of a sudden and to unsustainable levels.

Germany’s “Energiewende” is a commitment to a future powered by renewable energy and inspires not only Europe but also many other regions in the world. This can become a real German success story. It establishes renewables as the pillar of your national energy supply in the very near future. Like many renewable energy associations from around the globe, we applaud Germany for its courage, foresight, and leadership in engaging into the Energiewende.

However, we also express our deep concern about your Government’s decision to make so harsh of a cut in the feed-in tariff at this time.

In recent years, gradual and measured reductions of support schemes have helped shrink significantly the competitiveness gap between PV and conventional electricity sources. Unfortunately, the Government’s new proposal risks creating an unreliable regulatory climate threatening not only the entire PV industry but also renewables investors’ confidence in your own country.

All potential investors in PV, from ordinary citizens to small and medium sized companies as well as larger investors, need assurance when they commit to a clean, sustainable, and secure energy source and that they will not be taken on an incentive-level roller-coaster ride.

Thanks also to strong German policies in recent years, PV has significantly driven down its unit costs, thereby gaining a tangible market share and paving the way to becoming a mainstream part of the energy mix. With solar PV getting ever closer to a level of true cost competitiveness compared to all conventional sources of power generation, we now need policies that maintain this momentum in order to reach that goal soon.

Together with our German partner association, we are at your disposal to highlight different, cost-efficient and sustainable solutions which would allow us not to lose the momentum of this promising technology and its importance for research and development, investment and job creation in Europe.

Yours sincerely,

Ingmar Wilhelm

President