German Renewable Energy Sources Act

Renewable Energy Sources Act (2014)
Renewable Energy Sources Act (2014)
	Long title Act for the development of renewable energy sources; (previously: Act on granting priority to renewable energy sources) ;
Commenced	1 August 2014
Summary
	The 2014 act governs the transition from a feed-in tariff scheme to an auction system for most renewable electricity sources, covering wind power, photovoltaics, biomass (including cogeneration), hydroelectricity, and geothermal energy.

The Renewable Energy Sources Act ^[a] or EEG (German: Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz) is a series of German laws that originally provided a feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme to encourage the generation of renewable electricity. The EEG 2014^[2] specified the transition to an auction system for most technologies which has been finished with the current version EEG 2017.^[3]

The EEG first came into force on 1 April 2000 and has been modified several times since. The original legislation guaranteed a grid connection, preferential dispatch, and a government-set feed-in tariff for 20 years, dependent on the technology and size of project. The scheme was funded by a surcharge on electricity consumers, with electricity-intensive manufacturers and the railways later being required to contribute as little as 0.05 ¢/kWh. For 2017, the unabated EEG surcharge is 6.88 ¢/kWh.^[4] In a study in 2011,^[5] the average retail price of electricity in Germany, among the highest in the world, stood at around 35 ¢/kWh.

The EEG was preceded by the Electricity Feed-in Act (1991) which entered into force on 1 January 1991. This law initiated the first green electricity feed-in tariff scheme in the world.^[6]^: 439 The original EEG is credited with a rapid uptake of wind power and photovoltaics (PV) and is regarded nationally and internationally as an innovative and successful energy policy measure.^[1]^[7]^[8]^[9] The act also covers biomass (including cogeneration), hydroelectricity, and geothermal energy.

A significant revision to the EEG came into effect on 1 August 2014. The prescribed feed-in tariffs should be gone for most technologies in the near future. Specific deployment corridors now stipulate the extent to which renewable electricity is to be expanded in the future and the funding rates are no longer set by the government, but are determined by auction.^[10]^: 7 Plant operators market their production directly and receive a market premium to make up the difference between their bid price and the average monthly spot market price for electricity. The EEG surcharge remains in place to cover this shortfall. This new system was rolled out in stages, starting with ground-mounted photovoltaics in the 2014 law. More legislative revisions for the other branches were introduced with the current EEG on 1 January 2017.

The current EEG has been criticized for setting the deployment corridors (see table) too low to meet Germany's long-term climate protection goals, particularly given the likely electrification of the transport sector. The government target for the share of renewables in power generation is at least 80% by 2050.^[11]^: 4

The controversial EEG surcharge (or levy) on consumer power bills was removed, effective 1 July 2022. As a result, the average German household is expected to save around €200 per year. Payment obligations will now be met from proceeds from emissions trading and from the federal budget. Guaranteed tariffs for renewables project will continue to be offered going forward.^[12]

^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference bensmann-2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference eeg-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Presentation on the 2017 revision of the Renewable Energy Sources Act
^ Cite error: The named reference egenter-and-wettengel-2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Average electricity prices around the world: $/kWh". OVO Energy.
^ Cite error: The named reference luedeke-freund-and-opel-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference jacobsson-and-lauber-2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference couture-etal-2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference bruns-etal-2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference bmwi-2015b was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference bmwi-2015a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Appunn, Kerstine (30 June 2022). "Germany stops landmark mechanism that funded renewables expansion via power bills". Clean Energy Wire. Berlin, Germany. Retrieved 1 July 2022.

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[bensmann-2010-1] Cite error: The named reference bensmann-2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[eeg-2014-3] Cite error: The named reference eeg-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[4] Presentation on the 2017 revision of the Renewable Energy Sources Act

[egenter-and-wettengel-2016-5] Cite error: The named reference egenter-and-wettengel-2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[6] "Average electricity prices around the world: $/kWh". OVO Energy.

[luedeke-freund-and-opel-2014-7] Cite error: The named reference luedeke-freund-and-opel-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[jacobsson-and-lauber-2006-8] Cite error: The named reference jacobsson-and-lauber-2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[couture-etal-2010-9] Cite error: The named reference couture-etal-2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[bruns-etal-2010-10] Cite error: The named reference bruns-etal-2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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[bmwi-2015a-12] Cite error: The named reference bmwi-2015a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[appunn-2022-13] Appunn, Kerstine (30 June 2022). "Germany stops landmark mechanism that funded renewables expansion via power bills". Clean Energy Wire. Berlin, Germany. Retrieved 1 July 2022.

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Renewable Energy Sources Act (2014)
Long title Act for the development of renewable energy sources (previously: Act on granting priority to renewable energy sources)
Commenced	1 August 2014
Summary
The 2014 act governs the transition from a feed-in tariff scheme to an auction system for most renewable electricity sources, covering wind power, photovoltaics, biomass (including cogeneration), hydroelectricity, and geothermal energy.