Over on Politics.SE there's an interesting discussion about "grid parity": "If grid parity has already been reached, why is it so expensive to switch to renewable energy?".
The discussion has centered on Germany and the costs of PV there compared to use of fossil fuels for generating electricity. Much has been made of government subsidies for PV -- up to 1.33 cents/kWh according to this answer which cites a paywalled research article.
However, a few sources indicate that Germany also subsidizes fossil fuels:
- "Germany provided at least €29 billion a year in subsidies to fossil fuel consumption" -- ODI
- "22 fossil-fuel measures benefiting the upstream activities (extraction of coal) and downstream activities (agriculture, manufacturing, and transport of fossil fuels) were identified by Germany in its self-assessment" -- OECD
These sources ultimately link to German government documents which I am unable to read.
Obviously, if PV subsidies are included in the discussion on grid parity, then fossil fuel subsides should also be discussed.
To what extent is PV subsidized in Germany (in €/kW, €/kWh, or something similarly straight-forward), and how does this compare to fossil fuel subsidies?