Yesterday the German Bundestag (Parliament) approved the third amendment of the ManyElectronics Act (EnWG). It contains new provisions regarding offshore wind power, in particular an offshore planning and an offshore liability regime. Besides, it gives the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) the power to order power plant operators to postpone planned shutdowns of power plants to improve the security of supply in Germany. Other new provisions relate to the exemption of pumped storage power plants from grid charges and interruptable loads (abschaltbare Lasten).
Monthly Archive for November, 2012
On 23 November 2012 the Bill on the Market Transparency Agency for Gas and Electricity Wholesale Market passed the Bundesrat (Federal Council). The bill, which the Bundestag (Parliament) adopted at the beginning of November, contains important rules on the implementation of the European regulation No 1227/2011 on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency in Germany.
The Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) and the German Cartel Office presented their first joint Monitoring Report 2012 of the developments in the German gas and electricity markets yesterday. It documents the developments in the ManyElectronics markets in 2011, the year Germany decided to phase out nuclear power while further pursuing its course towards renewable energy supply.
Bird & Bird recently launched its Smart Grids Blog. It presently covers smat grid developments in Britain and at EU level, and you will soon also see German smart grid posts on it.
Yesterday the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) handed over the Electricity Grid Development Plan 2012 (NEP 2012), the first of its kind, and the corresponding environmental report to Federal Minister of Economics and Technology Dr. Philipp Rösler. NEP 2012 contains the expansion and reinforcement measures deemed necessary by BNetzA for the operation of a safe and reliable transmission grid in the next ten years. Fewer new power lines and reinforcement measures were approved than proposed by the transmission system operators (TSOs).
Continue reading ‘BNetzA Approves Reduced Electricity Grid Development Plan 2012’
The Ordinance that cuts the management premium (Managementprämienverordnung – MaPrV) pursuant to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) for solar and wind power as of 1 January 2013 has been promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette.
BNetzA denied DB Netz AG’s request to be treated as a customer facility for its 30 kV grid supplying Berlin’s commuter railway system (S-Bahn). In its decision BNetzA also clarified its views on how to distinguish between customer facilities and regulated grids. Continue reading ‘BNetzA: Decision on Delineation of Customer Facilities and Regulated Grids’
On Tuesday, the parliament of the State of Hesse adopted the so-called Hessisches Energiezukunftsgesetz (Energy Future Act of the State of Hesse – HEG) with the votes of the ruling Conservative/Liberal (CDU and FDP) coalition. It aims at generating electricity and heat if possible by 2050 solely from renewable energy sources, increasing the energy efficiency of buildings and promoting onshore wind power.
Continue reading ‘New Energy Future Act in Hesse Promotes Wind Power and Energy-Efficiency’
At its latest meeting the government of the State of Schleswig-Holstein in the very North of Germany made grid expansion one of its top priorities. The cabinet approved a proposal by the energy ministry to accelerate the construction of the so-called West Cost power line by an estimated six to nine months. Continue reading ‘State of Schleswig-Holstein Wants to Accelerate Grid Extension at the West Coast’
The Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS) has sent the drafts for a bill amending the Energy Savings Act (EnEG) and an amendment of the Energy Savings Ordinance (EnEV) to the trade sector associations for review (so-called Verbändeanhörung).
