The European Commission approved, on Thursday 3 June, the prolongation and modification of an existing German scheme to support the production of electricity from new, modernised and retrofitted highly efficient cogeneration (‘CHP’) plants), with the exception of coal and lignite-fired CHP.
The ‘Kraft-Wärme-Kopplungsgesetz’ scheme (KWKG 2020), which is approved until 2026, will further promote energy efficiency, lead to a better integration of cogenerated power into the German electricity market and lower CO2 emissions, without unduly distorting competition.
Germany notified its intention to prolong and modify an existing aid scheme to support new and modernised highly efficient CHP plants, as well as the construction and expansion of energy-efficient district heating/cooling networks and the construction and retrofitting of heating/cooling storage facilities.
Under the scheme, operators of CHP installations will have to offer their electricity on the market and will receive their support in the form of a fixed premium on top of the market price, except for very small installations, which will be eligible to receive feed-in tariffs. The annual budget for support to CHP installations, storage facilities and district heating/cooling networks amounts to €1.8 billion.
The KWKG 2020 differs from the existing scheme in the following ways: - the threshold for operators to participate in a competitive bidding process to receive support was lowered from 1 megawatt (MW) to 500 kilowatt (kW) installed capacity; - an automatic rule to adjust tendered quantities in case of undersubscription was introduced to safeguard competitiveness of auctions and keeping costs to a minimum for consumers and taxpayers. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)