Status: 12/12/2022 08:11 a.m
The federal government wants to relieve citizens with an electricity price brake – the money for this he wants to collect in part from electricity producers. The biogas industry in particular complains about this. The traffic light was already coming towards them.
The mood among operators of biogas plants is currently turbulent. The background is the federal government’s electricity price brake and the planned skimming off of proceeds from electricity producers.
The Natura biogas plant in Herrieden in the district of Ansbach is one of the really big ones in Bavaria. Managing Director Markus Appold is threatening to shut down his system this winter because otherwise he would no longer be able to operate it to cover costs: “If it is implemented like this, we will reduce our output – then less energy will be available for the public grid.”
Federal government wants more biogas electricity – actually
That would be the opposite of what the federal government wants to achieve this winter of the energy crisis. Actually, biogas plants should produce as much electricity as possible right now. Because the biogas electricity, which has long been considered expensive, is now having a cost-reducing effect in view of the sharp rise in wholesale electricity prices.
The government therefore removed extra obstacles for bioenergy in the autumn: On the one hand, a rule that Federal Energy Minister Peter Altmaier introduced in 2013 with what was already known as the electricity price brake was dropped: Since then, all biogas plants have been allowed to supply a flat rate of five percent less electricity than their motors actually do give away Now they can call up their full performance again.
In addition, the federal government is now allowing plants that previously only used liquid manure and residues to also ferment maize, for example, in order to increase the amount of energy. The industry association estimated that ten percent more electricity from biogas should be possible.
The electricity price brake siphons off revenue, not profits
This is now in question due to Habeck’s electricity price brake. Because the biogas plants are only allowed to keep part of the money they get for the valuable electricity, namely 18 cents per kilowatt hour, which is intended to cover the costs, plus a so-called safety surcharge of 7.5 cents – retroactive to December 1st. 90 percent of all income in excess of this is skimmed off by the state. On the spot market, electricity was recently traded at well over 30 cents per kilowatt hour.
Significant concessions are already included in the draft law on the electricity price brake for biogas. Originally, the security surcharge was only supposed to be three cents, and the profits were to be skimmed off retrospectively by March 1 – which the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE) considered unconstitutional.
The energy expert of the Greens in the Bundestag, Ingrid Nestle, therefore says that it was right to noticeably improve the conditions for biogas plants compared to the first drafts: “The operation of the plants should remain worthwhile. At the same time it is right that the chance profits from the war partly relief for consumers.”
Bavaria’s CSU state government initially satisfied – but not now
However, for many biogas operators this is still not enough. And they get help from the Bavarian state government made up of CSU and Free Voters. Bavaria’s CSU Minister of Agriculture, Michaela Kaniber, sent out a press release at the end of November entitled “Bavarian initiative for biogas operators successful”: with the statement that this contribution to climate protection could now be maintained thanks to Bavaria’s insistence. A few days later, however, the Bavarian cabinet passed a Federal Council initiative to further increase the surcharge for biogas operators from 7.5 to 10 cents per kilowatt hour.
Only the largest plants are still affected
Most biogas plants, especially in Bavaria, are no longer affected by the revenue skimming after the most recent change. Because the draft law now contains an exception for all systems with a capacity of one megawatt or less. This means that only the largest biogas plants have to give up money. According to the Biogas Association, around 85 percent of the operators in Bavaria are now exempt from the electricity price brake, and more than two thirds in the entire federal territory. Are the operators of these large plants right to complain?
No, if Nestle from Schleswig-Holstein, member of the Greens, has his way: “We ensure that the biogas plants, like all renewable energy plants, receive adequate remuneration, even in times of increased costs.”
An EU regulation binds Germany
Sandra Rostek from the capital’s bioenergy office denies that. And points out another point: “Coal is exempt from the levy, biogas is not. That’s not negotiable.” However, this is regulated in an EU regulation that introduces an electricity price brake throughout Europe. The reason for this is the increased procurement prices for hard coal. The scope for Germany is therefore limited, explains a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics.
The term of the levy is limited to June 30, 2023 according to the EU regulation. However, after verification by the EU Commission, it can be extended until April 30, 2024 at the latest. However, the energy industry associations are unanimously warning of this. Simone Peter from the Federal Association of Renewable Energies states that there is “enormous uncertainty in the industry, including the cancellation of projects”. This also applies to photovoltaics and wind energy.
The results of the Federal Network Agency’s most recent tenders show that the expansion of these forms of energy is not progressing as desired by the Federal Government: They were clearly undersigned for both photovoltaics and onshore wind. In other words, there were fewer wind turbine and solar park operators willing to build than the federal government’s strategy envisages. The same has been true for biogas plants for a long time anyway. According to industry observers, the uncertainty caused by the electricity price brake could be one of the reasons for this.