Friday, 08 July 2016
On 8th July 2016, an amendment to the Renewable Energy Act (EEG 2017) passed the German parliament. The law will take effect from 1st January 2017. One of the key features of the reform is the transition from feed-in tariffs (payments are fixed by the government) to a tender system: From 1stJanuary, onshore windfarms and solar plants with an installed capacity greater than 750 kW and biomass plants with an installed capacity greater than 150 kW are bound to a mandatory tender process. The reverse auction will determine the amount of the subsidy the successful bidders will receive.
The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) is responsible for the execution of this process. However, there are exceptions: for instance, installations that were put into operation before 1st January...