German regulator suggests renewable energy producers pay grid fees

Germany’s network agency has proposed that electricity producers, including operators of renewable energy installations, pay grid fees to contribute to the modernisation of transmission and distribution networks. “Contributions by producers to grid costs remain a desired option,” the regulator BNetzA said in a paper on planned reforms to grid rules, which aim to adapt fees to the “changing conditions” of the energy transition, such as the growing share of intermittent renewables. 

Electricity producers in the country have so far been largely exempt from paying grid fees, and a change would affect the business case for renewable energy investments. BNetzA said it currently favours introducing a “dynamic tariff” model, potentially by 2029, under which fees would vary depending on current supply, grid capacity, and the installation’s location.

Germany’s renewable energy federation BEE said that any reform should “reward system-friendly behaviour” by producers. This would require a clear definition of what kind of feed-in pattern supports grid stability, to give power producers clarity on support levels, grid fees and connection conditions, BEE head Ursula Heinen-Esser said. She added that a recently leaked proposal by the economy ministry to scale back grid access priority for renewables must not influence the BNetzA’s decision.

Energy industry association BDEW said it shared the grid agency’s goal of reducing electricity system costs and making grid use more efficient. However, it warned that the approach of dynamic tariffs must not conflict with existing renewable energy support legislation, and called for clarity for operators. 

“Raising grid fees for producers may seem logical at first glance,” said BDEW head Kerstin Andreae. However, the benefits would not outweigh the costs of implementing the BNetzA proposal, she warned. Widening the application of grid fees would create significant bureaucratic burdens and weaken investor confidence, she argued, adding that the BDEW would therefore reject the proposal in its current form. 

Ingbert Liebing, head of local utility association VKU, said a reform should ensure that grid fees are fair and practical. “Whoever uses the grid must pay an adequate share of the infrastructure costs,” Liebing said. While the goal should remain to expand renewable energy sources wherever grid capacities are available in the short term, dynamic tariffs would be too complex for a rapid and smooth implementation. “We need a system that makes the energy transition possible for utilities not only in theory but in everyday life,” Liebing argued.