Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Germany: State Aid to be Granted to Geothermal Energy Projects Without Going Through Auction Procedure

State aid: Commission approves auction scheme for electricity from renewable sources in Germany (European Commission)

The European Commission has found amendments to the German renewable energy scheme to be in line with EU state aid rules. As of 2017 support will mainly be granted through auctions.This will promote the steady deployment of renewable energy whilst maintaining competition in the German energy market.

Other technologies supported under the EEG 2017 (hydropower, geothermal and installations using sewage gas) will continue to be eligible for feed-in tariffs (for installations up to 100 kW) and market premiums defined in the EEG 2017 in line with the Commission's 2014 Guidelines on state aid for environmental protection and energy. This is because there are not enough potential projects for those technologies to enable the organisation of competitive bidding processes.