Energy market to prioritise renewables
In the growth package, the government announces measures to restructure the electricity market. New strategies such as the restructuring of the funding system are also included in the concept. In addition, the rules of the electricity market are to prioritise renewable energies in the future.
11.07.2024 – The federal budget for 2025 still has the parliamentary procedure ahead of it, but since last week a draft of the governing coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP has been available. At the same time, a growth initiative was announced to boost economic growth in Germany. Investment incentives, reduction of bureaucracy, strategies to combat the shortage of skilled workers and financial market rules are described as fields of action in the growth package.
The backbone of the targeted growth is a future-proof energy market, which is why energy policy projects and their weighting take up a large part of the concept paper. There are also some surprises – not everything is considered right by the renewable energy industry.
The energy market of the future
The measures outlined are intended to "create a reliable investment framework, enable more flexibility, reduce the costs of grid expansion and create planning and investment security so that the momentum now sparked in the energy transition can develop even more strongly."
The relief for the economy in the electricity price will be continued - but not expanded. Thus, not all companies can benefit from the low tax rates on electricity.
The framework conditions for electricity storage systems are to be optimised so that their expansion progresses more rapidly. The Federal Network Agency is already working on further developing the current exemptions and discounts from grid charges and creating long-term planning security. In addition, the acceleration of planning and approval is to be extended to storage facilities.
The carbon management strategy that has already been published is to be implemented quickly, and the hydrogen ramp-up is to be accelerated.
Changes are imminent in the electricity market
A major change is announced for the electricity market design – the rules of the electricity market are to prioritise renewables and flexibility. To this end, the aim is to remove all barriers on the supply and demand sides and provide incentives for flexible electricity tariffs and a more flexible grid fee structure.
The expansion of renewable power plants is still an important task, but the end of the previous system – the remuneration of the renewable electricity fed into the grid – is heralded. With the end of coal-fired power generation, this subsidy is to expire. Instead, there is to be an investment cost subsidy. The reason for this system change: The price signals of the market should be able to have a distortion-free effect. In the future, renewable energies will no longer receive subsidies as soon as the electricity market is sufficiently flexible and sufficient storage is available. These announcements are causing unrest in the industry.
In addition, there are some short-term innovations – pointing in precisely this direction: Controllable new plants are no longer to receive subsidies from January 2025 if prices are negative. In addition, smaller plants must also be gradually marketed directly – starting in January 2025, the limit will be lowered to 25 KW in three annual steps.
In order to make these measures possible, the self-marketing of electricity and the control of the plants are to be reduced in bureaucracy, digitised and designed to be suitable for mass business by the beginning of 2026 at the latest.
Introduce a capacity mechanism
In 2028, the capacity mechanism is to be operational – i.e. rules and adequate remuneration exist for electricity from power plants that only generate electricity temporarily when needed, such as pumped storage, bioenergy plants and other back-up power plants. The capacity of 5 gigawatts of hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants considered necessary is to be put out to tender quickly. In addition, new natural gas power plants with a total capacity of 5 gigawatts are to be built – to ensure security of supply.
Measures to reduce grid costs have also been announced, including payments for avoided grid charges to electricity generators in distribution grids and time-varying grid charges for system-friendly grid use.
Biomass Strategy and Heat Transition
The German government promises to present a biomass strategy in the near future and to define how the potential of biomass can be used sustainably and cost-effectively. This also includes the question of the extent to which both domestic and imported bioenergy should be used as a further element to strengthen the security of gas supply.
Finally, there is good news for the heating transition. The exploration risk of geothermal drilling is to be better hedged and a solution for this is to be developed together with KfW and the insurance industry.
The government is putting two other topics on the agenda: Fusion energy is to receive a roadmap that acknowledges the potential of the technology. Products intended for export, which are not subject to a high level of carbon dioxide due to domestic CO2pricing should benefit from a refund of the CO2costs when exporting.
Erneuerbaren Branche in zentralen Punkten unzufrieden
Der Bundesverband Erneuerbare Energien begrüßt insbesondere die Stärkung der Flexibilität – und damit die Stärkung von Batteriespeichern, Bioenergieanlagen und Wasserkraftwerken – als Schritt in die richtige Richtung. Den Instrumentenwechsel bei der Förderung der Erneuerbaren hingegen sieht man in der Branche kritisch. BEE-Präsidentin Simone Peter warnt: „Das Experiment eines radikalen Wechsels hin zu Investitionskostenzuschüssen birgt die Gefahr der Marktverunsicherung und Investitionszurückhaltung, die in Zeiten ehrgeiziger Ausbauziele diese massiv gefährden können.“ Der Verband hatte schon vor längerer Zeit einen anderen Vorschlag mit dem gleichen Ziel unterbreitet: Statt der zeitlich auf 20 Jahre festgelegten Vergütung solle auf eine Mengenförderung umgestellt werden.
Für die Absenkung der Direktvermarktungsschwelle fehlen nach Einschätzung des Verbandes derzeit die massentauglichen Prozesse. Direktvermarkter vermarkten ungern Kleinstmengen. Der gerade im Aufwärtstrend befindliche Ausbau von Photovoltaik-Anlagen auf kleinen Gewerbebetrieben ist besonders von dieser Maßnahme bedroht – er könnte ausgebremst werden.