In the future, it should be easier for Hesse's homeowners to set up heat pumps and photovoltaic systems on their own properties and roofs.

This was announced by Hesse's Economics Minister Tarek Al-Wazir after a meeting with Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (both Greens) on Monday in Wiesbaden.

Al-Wazir also promised faster approval procedures for new wind turbines.

When asked, the Federal Minister of Economics rejected allegations that Habeck had influenced the results of investigations into longer service lives of nuclear power plants.

Habeck had previously spoken to Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) during his visit to Hesse and wanted to visit the Mitsch energy company in Heppenheim in the afternoon.

The tenor of the two Green politicians was clear: the expansion of renewable energies as well as energy saving and efficiency are the answer to the climate and energy crisis.

"The climate is heating up faster than predicted, and at the same time, the soaring gas and oil prices are a huge challenge for our country," Al-Wazir said.

"We now have to do everything we can to save energy, use it more intelligently and expand renewable energies in order to make the economy and mobility sustainable."

"Our talks today revolved around two topics," said Habeck, naming the aid already announced for medium-sized and small companies, which should take effect from March 2023.

According to information from the Federal Minister of Economics, the federal government is examining whether the aid can be brought forward to February next year.

The smaller companies, like private consumers, are to be relieved with a gas price cap of twelve cents per kilowatt hour.

This applies to 80 percent of the previous year's consumption, with Habeck making it clear when asked that 2021 was the previous year.

He was convinced that this would take away a “large part of the overload” from companies.

The second focus of discussion was the expansion of renewable energies.

Habeck pointed out that it can already be observed today that these are lowering energy prices overall.

He praised the fact that Hessen had already reserved 1.9 percent of the state's area as a priority area for wind power.

"These areas must now also be built on quickly, just having them in the books is not enough," said Habeck.

He promised to remove "barriers" to new wind turbines.

In fact, only 45 new wind turbines have been approved in Hesse this year - they are still a long way from having been built.

Next week, the new Hessian energy law will be on the agenda in the state parliament.

"The amendment already contains significant innovations, such as the obligation for all municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants to draw up a heat plan," said Al-Wazir.

He pointed out that an amendment to the law had been tabled last week.

It is about the building regulations and the minimum distances that are still prescribed.

The previously applicable minimum distances are to be “significantly reduced” for both heat pumps on the ground and photovoltaic systems on the roofs.

Then, according to Al-Wazir, it would also be possible for the owners of a mid-terrace house or a semi-detached house to install a photovoltaic system on their narrow roof, which was previously difficult to do.

"We are sure that a lot of people are now thinking about how they can deal with their rising energy costs and become less dependent on fossil fuels," said Al-Wazir.

The state government expressly wants to support this.

In the first half of 2022, solar systems with a total output of 190 megawatts were newly installed in Hesse.

According to Al-Wazir, this is an increase of almost 100 percent compared to the first half of 2021.

Habeck commented on allegations that became known last week that he acted against the advice of his own experts when deciding to extend the life of the three remaining German nuclear power plants, and that the test was not open-ended.

"The examination of the necessity and the availability of the nuclear power plants has had a dynamic over the year, because the announcements of the operators have changed." Therefore, the examination by his ministry was always unbiased, based on the knowledge that the ministry had, said the Minister.