E.ON chief urges Germany to deprioritize wind and solar for grid connections

BERLIN, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Germany should give priority to consumers over wind and solar farms for future grid connections, the chief of Europe's largest energy network operator E.ON said in an interview with German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, published on Sunday.

“The renewables have won — they already deliver more than 60% of our electricity,” E.ON CEO Leonhard Birnbaum said in the interview. “At this stage it no longer makes sense to massively subsidize new capacity, especially when another wind turbine adds costs but hardly any benefit.”

Giving preference to renewable energy facilities at the expense of businesses is no longer appropriate, Birnbaum said, urging the German government to change its policies.

"First priority for grid connection should go to whoever creates jobs," Birnbaum said.

Birnbaum also urged the government to eliminate what he considers unnecessary subsidies for solar installations.

"The costs for the fixed feed-in tariff for new solar power may look harmless per year," Birnbaum said. "But the subsidy often runs for 20 years, and that adds up to billions."

(Reporting by Maria Martinez; editing by Diane Craft)