EU Commission rejects renewables levy exemptions for cogeneration power plants - report

The European Commission has rejected to approve exemptions from the renewables surcharge for operators of highly efficient combined heat and power (CHP) plants in Germany, Andreas Mihm reports for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). Since 2014, operators of such plants had been waived 60 percent of the EEG-surcharge (6.88 cents per kilowatt hour (ct/kWh) in 2017; 6.792 ct/kWh in 2018) on electricity produced for self-consumption. The European Commission’s “surprising” move will push up electricity bills for several thousand businesses, as well as schools, municipal pools and hospitals powered by their own new CHP plants. The German economy ministry confirmed the report and said it would continue to discuss the exemption with the Commission. CDU energy expert Thomas Bareiß told FAZ, “It’s irritating to me that this issue comes up at all. […] The economy ministry assured us in 2016 there was an agreement on this with the EU Commission.” In August last year, the economy ministry said an agreement with the EU Commission had secured, among other things, that highly efficient CHP facilities would continue to pay only 40 percent of the renewables surcharge on power produced for self-consumption.

Read the article in German here.

For background, read the CLEW factsheets What business thinks of the energy transition, Industrial power prices and the Energiewende and Combined heat and power- an Energiewende cornerstone?