The cabinet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has approved legislation to tender off 8GW in additional onshore wind and solar capacity from 2019-21, and to the dismay of the PV sector carry out a one-off extra cut in feed-in tariffs (FITs) for small-scale rooftop installations.

The special tenders – on top of regular auctions – aim to bring Europe’s largest economy closer to its 2020 climate protection targets, and had been promised in a coalition treaty earlier this year.