// Evaluation of KfW financing schemes for renewable energies

The KfW Group grants low-interest loans for investments in the use of renewable sources of energy. Its initiatives play a key role in achieving the German government’s expansion targets in renewables. The System Analysis department has been reviewing the importance and effectiveness of the schemes every year since 2008. The reductions in the use of fossil fuels, energy import levels, greenhouse gas emissions and external costs are all calculated in order to assess the impact, as is the effect on the job market. Data on subsidised installations located abroad are also analysed alongside statistics on systems based in Germany. The results are used in a number of ways, forming the basis for international reports for KfW Green Bonds, for example, which are used to refinance one of the KfW loan programmes.

In 2017 and 2018, around 29 % and 13 % of all the investments made in Germany in the expansion of renewable energies for electricity and heat generation respectively were co-financed by KfW programs (excluding offshore wind turbines). Each year, the installations in Germany receiving funding during this period have avoided energy imports worth about € 340 million, emissions of around 4.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents, and roughly € 960 million in external costs due to environmental damage and adverse effects on health. The production and construction of the subsidised plants accounted for 43,000 jobs in Germany for one year, maintaining some and creating others, with operation and maintenance in line to provide employment for another 1,130 people for 20 years.