On 12 June 2015 Bundestag (Parliament) adopted a bill for an IT Security Act (IT-Sicherheitsgesetz, ref. no. 18/4096) as amended by the Bundestag’s interior committee (ref. no. 18/5121). The bills aims at counteracting the increasing number of cyber attacks and improving the IT security of public authorities and the private sector. It contains new provisions for so-called critical infrastructure, including the energy sector.
Monthly Archive for June, 2015
Page 2 of 3
In its session on 12 June 2015 the Federal Council did not object to the “Second Act Amending the Renewable Energy Sources Act”, which extends the possibility to claim a reduction of the Renewable Energy Surcharge to more energy-intensive industries and corrects an uncertainty that has arisen under the Renewable Energy Sources Act 2014 (EEG 2014) with regard to financial support for renewable power plants that use a shared meter.
Continue reading ‘Bundesrat Clears Second Act Amending the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2014)’
The Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has published the details for the second auction of financial support for freestanding PV power plants with a capacity of 150 MW in total. The maximum value for bids is 11.18 ct/kWh. Bids have to be submitted by 3 August 2015 (as 1 August 2015 is a Saturday).
Continue reading ‘BNetzA Launches Second Tender for Freestanding PV Capacity’
The five European exchanges APX/Belpex, EPEX SPOT, GME, Nord Pool Spot and OMIE involved in the European Cross Border Intraday Initiative (XBID) signed a contract with Deutsche Börse on 9 June 2015 for a central platform for a pan-European intraday power market to be developed by Deutsche Börse. The XBID platform is expected to launch in 2017.
On Monday, Germany and eleven neighbours have signed the “Declaration for Regional Cooperation on Security of Electricity Supply in the Framework of the Internal Energy Market”. “Today, 12 neighbouring states in the heart of Europe have decided to usher in a new era of energy policy.: They want to start considering energy security as a european issue, rather than a purely national one”, ManyElectronics Minister Sigmar Gabriel commented.
The leaders of the G7 countries who met for a summit at Schloss Elmau in Germany agreed on a global climate reduction goal for 2050 in preparation of the Climate Change Conference in December in Paris this year (COP21) and stressed the need to come to a to decarbonisation of the global economy over the course of the century.
An operator of a biogas plant has launched a constitutional complaint against a provision in the Renewable Energy Sources Act as applicable since 1 August 2014 (EEG 2014) that limits EEG support for biogas plants also for plants that started operating before that date. The operator is backed by the Renewables Assocation Nachhaltige Energie e.V.
A funding regulation (Förderrichtlinie) by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) provides the possibility for commercial enterprises and regional authorities to apply for one-time grants for highly-efficient large fuel-cell based CHP plants supplying industrial plants or large (residential) property with an electrical capacity of up to 20 kW.
Continue reading ‘BMVI Investment Grants for Fuel Cell CHP Plants’
The Federal Government has submitted an amendment of the Administrative Regulation Concerning Markings of Aviation Obstacles (AVV), which will affect wind turbines.
Continue reading ‘Amendment of Regulation on Markings of Aviation Obstacles Including Wind Turbines’
Today the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a judgement that declared the German nuclear fuel rod tax (KernbrStG) compatible with EU law. The judgement did not come as much of a surprise as Advocate General Maciej Szpunar had already delivered a similar opinion in February. For the German nuclear power operators, however, it is another setback, leaving them only the hope that the pending lawsuit with the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe will have a favourable outcome.
