German energy policy continues to promote and implement the so-called “Energiewende” (Energy Transition) by expanding the capacity of electricity generation from renewable sources and phasing-out nuclear and fossil energy while improving energy efficiency.
At the same time, conventional energy sources still constitute the major part of Germany’s energy supply:1 Coal-fired power plants accounted for 36.6% of gross electricity production in 2017 using both lignite (22.5%) and hard coal (14.1%). Natural gas contributed 13.2%, mineral oil and other sources 5.1%. The share of nuclear energy decreased to 11.7% of gross electricity production in 2017, as compared to 14.2% in 2015, due to the shutdowns forced by law under section 7 (1) (a) Atomic Energy Act (Atomgesetz).
However, the Energy Transition is showing its effect: in 2017, approximately 36.2% of the gross electricity production came from renewable energy sources, compared to 29% in 2016. The remarkably strong increase within just one year can be explained by the substantial expansion of wind energy plants (both off- and onshore, see below) and unusually strong winds.2
Wind energy provides about half of the electricity derived from renewable energies. Its production increased from 80 TWh in 2016 to 107 TWh in 2017, and contributes 16.2% of the gross electricity production (13.6% onshore, 2.7% offshore).3 In 2017, the capacity increase of onshore wind totalled 5.5 GW, significantly exceeding the yearly target of 2.8 GW under the Renewable Energies Act 2017 (“Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz 2017”, EEG 2017)and reaching a total installed capacity of approximately 50 GW.4 It can be assumed that this particular increase in 2017 is partly due to existing “grandfathering” rules that still ensure remuneration without prior successful participation in an auction. Offshore wind capacity increased by 1.2 GW to a total of 5.4 MW.5
The shares of electricity generated from solar energy (6.1%, derived from a total installed capacity of 42.3 GW), from biomass and waste energy (7.9%) and from hydro power (3.1%) have remained approximately the same as in the year before.
Notably, the government’s annual targets for new solar and biomass energy capacity (2.5 GW and 100 MW respectively) were not reached in 2017.6
In the coalition agreement between the ruling parties CDU/CSU and SPD of 12 March 2018 (Coalition Agreement7), the newly elected government set its agenda and raised the target for renewable energy’s share in the mix to 65% by 2030. More generally, the new government reaffirmed the importance of a successful Energy Transitionas Germany’s long-term energy and climate strategy. It aims to further advance the three pillars of the Energy Transition: (i) reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; (ii) expansion of renewable energies; and (iii) increasing energy efficiency.
The Coalition Agreement emphasises the importance of increasing energy production from renewable energy sources less than in previous legislative periods, but particularly the synchronisation with required grid-enhancement and sector-coupling. The government further announced the development of an “Energy Efficiency Strategy”, laying down the principle of “efficiency first” and aiming to cut total energy consumption by 50% by 2050.
However, the Coalition Agreement also envisages an extraordinary tender for offshore wind capacities addressing concerns that the rigid goals implemented by the Offshore Wind Energy Act 2017 (“Windenergie-auf-See-Gesetz”, WindSeeG) might overburden the offshore-industry in Germany. Also, additional 4GW each of wind and solar energy capacities shall be tendered for. The auctions will take place in 2019 and 2020.8
The Coalition Agreement also states that the Federal Government intends to develop a comprehensive blockchain strategy and promote an appropriate legal framework for trading cryptocurrencies and tokens at both European and international level, in order to “exploit the potential of blockchain technology and prevent misuse”. The Federal Government plans to test such innovative technologies in order to examine their use for government work. The aim of such pilot projects is to gather information so that a legal framework can be created on the basis of these experiences. These intentions of the Federal Government reflect the growing attention to the relevance of blockchain technology also at EU level. The European Commission recently set up the “EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum”.9 Additionally, on 10 April 2018, 22 European countries, amongst them Germany, signed a Declaration on the Establishment of a “European Blockchain Partnership”.10 This focus does justice to the potential of blockchain technology’s ability to enhance real-time energy management with billions of interconnected devices.
Offshore regional plan
As determined by the German legislation for offshore wind projects, especially the WindSeeG, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, “BSH”) in consultation with the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur, BNetzA), has initiated the procedure to set up the offshore regional plan (“Flächenentwicklungsplan”, FEP).
The FEP contains, in particular, determinations of areas and sites for the construction and operation of offshore wind energy plants. It also sets out the time sequence in which the areas will be subject to tender processes under the so-called central model of the WindSeeG until 2030. Under the central model, anyone can apply for the right to build and receive a remuneration on the same pre-assessed area. Previously, developers still applied with areas for which they had undertaken the pre-development work.
The determinations of the FEP are now particularly relevant, as certain special rights exist only for those projects whose area is tendered until 2030: the developer who had previously obtained rights on the respective area has a step-in right under section 39 WindSeeG if he does not win in the tender process. Therefore, a determination that an area will be subject to a tender before 2030 is the only way such previous rights still bear value.
In May 2018, the BSH published the preliminary draft of the FEP.11 A public hearing took place in June 2018. Besides the specific sites and their sequence of tendering, inter alia the maximum generation per km² in the future, and elements of the timing and interpretation of the WindSeeG, were subject to controversy. The BSH is expected to publish the draft of the FEP in the autumn, which will then be subject to another hearing.
New guideline for feed-in management measures
In June 2018, the BNetzA published the new version 3.0 of the Guideline for Feed-In Management (“Leitfaden zum Einspeisemanagement, Version 3.0”; Guideline 3.0).12 Even though the Guideline 3.0 has no legally binding effect, it has high practical relevance. The Guideline 3.0 contains the opinion of the BNetzA on how feed-in management measures (“Einspeisemanagement”), in particular prioritisation and curtailment, shall be conducted and when the operator receives compensation from the grid operator. If not stipulated in the Guideline 3.0, a compensation payment is unlikely, unless enforced in court.
The Guideline 3.0 first of all contains provisions for the calculation and structure applied to receive a curtailment compensation, depending on the type of plant (wind, biomass, solar or combined heat and power (CHP)) and, in case of a renewable energy installation, the marketing method (direct marketing or feed-in remuneration). Secondly, it contains provisions on how to compensate additional expenses which arise due to the acquisition of balancing power.13 Thirdly, it stipulates the feed-in of CHP units.14 The Guideline 3.0 states how to conduct the priority feed-in of high-efficiency CHP power, provides for sweeping and peak accounting procedures as well as data for power plant deployment planning, and states how to compensate CHP units that are subject to curtailment. Finally, the Guideline 3.0 contains provisions accounting for various installations which utilise a joint measuring device.15
Modernisation of the grid fee structure
In July 2017, the government adopted the Act on the Modernisation of the Grid Fee Structure (“Netzentgeltmodernisierungsgesetz – NEMoG”), which aims at lowering the grid fees and distributing the remaining costs more fairly. From 2019 to 1 January 2023, the grid fees charged for the use of transmission grids will be incrementally harmonised across the entire country in five equal steps. Thereby, regional disparities in grid fees, and thus effective electricity prices for final customers, will be reduced.16
The NEMoG also provides for the successive removal of the privilege of so-called “avoided grid fees”, i. e. payments for costs that are avoided due to feed-in at the decentralised (distribution) level. Since the original assumption that locally generated electricity would be consumed at a local level, without using the higher-voltage grid, proved to be false yet the avoided grid fees have risen significantly in subsequent years, the NEMoG provides for a phase-out in three steps:
(i) the calculation basis for avoided grid fees for controllable electricity generation installations will be frozen at the 2016 level;
(ii) volatile electricity generation installations, i.e. from wind and solar energy, that start operating as of 2018, do not qualify for payments any more; and
(iii) payments will further be stopped for controllable electricity generation installations that will be put into operation on or after 1 January 2023.
Additionally, avoided grid fees for existing volatile electricity generation installations are to be successively reduced once a year from 1 January 2018, by an amount of one third of the initial value.
The NEMoG also introduced regulation regarding the so-called special network utilities (besondere netztechnische Betriebsmittel, bnBm) in section 11 (3) (“Energiewirtschaftsgesetz”, EnWG), while simultaneously deleting section 13k EnWG (grid stability units). It stipulates that transmission system operators may provide bnBm, if short-term measures are necessary in order to restore the safety and reliability of the electricity supply system in case of an actual local breakdown of one or more utilities. The law does not contain guidelines for the technical nature of the bnBm, and the European Commission has demanded any according tenders to be technology-neutral. By the nature of the requirements, however, in particular newly constructed gas power plants come into question as bnBm. Pursuant to section 11 (3) EnWG, third parties have to be commissioned with the operation of bnBm, whereas such third party must be chosen by way of competitive tendering, involving the BNetzA. The first tendering procedure has just been started at the end of June 2018 in order to meet the need of three TSOs for an active power of 1,200 MW, divided into 12 batches of 100 MW that are, again, divided by region into four lot groups.
Tenant Energy Act
On 25 July 2017, the so-called Tenant Energy Act (“Gesetz zur Förderung von Mieterstrom und zur Änderung weiterer Vorschriften des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes – Mieterstromgesetz17) came into force and was approved by the EU Commission under State aid rules in November 2017. Tenant energy models are envisaged to stimulate additional investment in solar parks and enhance active participation of tenants in the Energy Transition. The Tenant Energy Act introduces a so-called “tenant energy surcharge”, applicable to units up to in total 100 kW and received by the landlord, provided that the electricity is consumed by an end user within this building (the tenant) or in direct spatial connection. It constitutes an additional revenue component for electricity produced from renewable sources pursuant to the EEG 2017, besides market premium and feed-in tariff. In line with the structure of the feed-in tariff model, the overall tenant energy surcharge is computed from the statutory funding level minus 8.5 ct/kWh. It is subject to the so-called flexible cap (“atmender Deckel”), which means that the remuneration flexibly decreases depending on added capacity.
Although the potential for tenant consumption energy in Germany is estimated to reach 3.8 million households, the Tenant Energy Act has failed so far: bureaucratic obstacles, tax risks, and complex metering requirements have prevented a significant impact. Hence, an improvement of the existing law seems inevitable.
New bid structure for balancing energy
As of 8 May 2018, the BNetzA decided on an adaption of the bid structure regarding secondary control power (matter no.: BK6-18-019) and minutes reserve (matter no.: BK6-19-020), which entered into force on 12 July 2018. According to the new rules, the award of an offer for secondary control power or minutes reserve shall be based on a mixed price method: the surcharge value proportionally shall take into consideration the energy price besides the capacity price. This is new, as to date the award was granted solely on the basis of the offered capacity charge. An adjustment factor determines how strongly the energy price enters into the surcharge value. Such adjustment factor complies with the average likelihood of capitalisation of bids of the respective type of balancing energy, and shall be calculated quarterly on the basis of the past 12 months.
The intention of the new award mechanism is to ensure that bids for the energy price will be competitively taken into consideration when procuring balancing energy. The changes are likely to change the offer-merit order of the participants of the balancing power market and thus reduce the margins, and ultimately reduce the value of participating assets. Consequently, a market participant filed a complaint before the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf that was rejected, apart from an extension of the transposition period until 15 October 2018.18
Market coupling: XBID Market Project
Intraday markets are an important tool for market parties to keep positions balanced as injections and/or off-take may change between the day-ahead stage and real-time operations. The growth of intermittent generation capacity has increased the importance of efficient intraday markets. Consequently, the EU Commission has established a “Target Model for Intraday”, based on continuous energy trading where cross-zonal transmission capacity is allocated through implicit continuous allocation. This model has been enshrined in the “Framework Guidelines for Capacity Allocation and Congestion Management (CACM)”,19 the cornerstone of a European single market for electricity. The European Power Exchanges EPEX SPOT, GME, Nord Pool Spot and OMIE (PXs) have responded to the needs of the market by establishing a transparent and efficient continuous intraday trading environment to enable market parties to easily trade out their intraday positions.
In order to help to realise this goal, the PXs, together with the transmission system operators from 11 countries, have launched an initiative called the Cross Border Intraday Market Project (XBID) to create a joint integrated intraday cross-zonal market. The purpose of XBID is to enable continuous cross-zonal trading and increase the overall efficiency of intraday trading on the single cross-zonal intraday market across Europe. XBID is based on a common IT system with one Shared Order Book, a Capacity Management Module and a Shipping Module. It allows for orders entered by market participants for continuous matching in one bidding zone to be matched by orders similarly submitted by market participants in any other bidding zone within the XBID solution’s reach, as long as transmission capacity is available.20
The wider XBID solution will create one integrated European intraday market. Since going live in mid-June 2018, the number of trades in XBID has exceeded 2.5 million.21
Decision of the Higher Regional Court
The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf on 6 December 2017 ruled that compensation claims of an offshore wind farm operator according to § 17e EnWG must be calculated on the basis of the best available data.22
It thereby deviated from the BNetzA’s according guideline23 and previous decision which held that an offshore wind farm operator had to accept massive reductions from its compensation for delayed grid connection under § 17e EnWG if the wind-data gathered on the top of each turbine was inaccurate. Based on a very literal interpretation of the law, the BNetzA had assumed that data gathered otherwise could not be used, even if it had been proven to be more accurate. Besides its relevance for the business case and financing of offshore wind farms, it is notable that the court held the refusal to pay the compensation by the transmission system operator as abusive, even though this was in line with the BNetzA’s guidelines and decisions. The latter may have a significant impact on the reliability of the core regulator’s authority in the industry.
EU Commission decisions under State aid rules
Within the last 12 months, the EU Commission decided on a number of cases24 regarding the compatibility of German regulation with European State aid rules, i.a.:
Back in 2014, the EU Commission approved exemptions from the EEG surcharge (essentially a charge imposed on electricity consumers to refinance subsidies for renewable energy plants) for existing self-suppliers of electricity under the EEG 2014 for a transitory period, as Germany committed to examine how the surcharge could be imposed on existing self-suppliers in the future.25 In December 2017, the EU Commission approved the progressive application of the EEG 2017 surcharge regime for self-suppliers that had entered into operation before August 2014.26
In February 2018, the EU Commission approved the capacity reserve mechanism under section 13e EnWG, as it is considered necessary to ensure the stability of the electricity market during the ongoing Energy Transition.27 The approval is applicable to a reserve capacity of up to 2GW and covers three two-year contracting periods from 2019 until 2025.
As of 28 May 2018 and after a five-year lasting in-depth investigation, the EU Commission concluded that the exemption for certain large electricity users in Germany from network charges in 2012–2013 violated EU State aid rules.28 There were no grounds to fully relieve those users from paying network charges. Consequently, Germany has to recover the illegal aid, whereas it is not yet clear how such reversal shall take place. Between 2011 and 2013, electricity users that had an annual consumption above 10 GW/h, and particularly stable electricity consumption, were fully exempted from paying network charges under German law (Section 19 para. 2 of the German Network Charges Ordinance – Stromnetzentgeltverordnung, StromNEV). In 2012, thanks to this provision, these users avoided paying an estimated €300 million in network charges. These costs were instead financed by a special levy imposed on final electricity consumers (the so-called §19-surcharge), which Germany introduced in 2012.
In August 2018, the EU Commission approved the German plans to reduce the EEG surcharge for new highly efficient CHP installations used for the self-supply of electricity and heat, which entered into operation after August 2014.29 Operators of installations with an output range below 1MW or above 10MW are only obliged to pay 40% of the EEG surcharge. Regulations for installations with an output range between 1MW and 10MW are complex, but reduce the EEG surcharge in general.
Results of renewable energy auctions
The first auction rounds for funding of electricity from renewable energy sources showed that the competition-based auction scheme introduced by the EEG 2017 works well in practice.
Under the new auction scheme, plant operators receive payments according to their individual bids, the funding rate being the price quoted in the successful bid and bids being accepted from the bottom up until the available volume has been exhausted.
Auctions regarding solar energy have taken place since April 2015. They resulted in an overall high competition level, unexpectedly low prices and an average quota of realisation of 95%.30 The average volume weighted price of successful bids decreased from 9.17 ct/kWh in April 2015 to 4.33 ct/kWh in February 2018, with the lowest accepted price being 3.86 ct/kWh.31
The first two auction rounds regarding offshore wind energy were open to well-advanced projects and showed a high competition level. Accordingly, five bids of 0 ct/kWh were accepted; these projects, while not receiving funding under the EEG, will, however, benefit from free grid access.32 The average volume weighted price of successful bids was 2.3 ct/kWh; the highest price accepted was 9.83 ct/kWh.33 The ten projects that were awarded a total of 3,100 MW are expected to be realised between 2021 and 2025.
The first auction rounds, of a total of 2,800 MW, for onshore wind energy in 2017, showed very high demand and significantly falling prices. The average volume-weighted price fell from 5.71 ct/kWh in May 2017 to 3.82 ct/kWh in November 2017.34
The vast majority (95%) of the awards granted in 2017 were for citizens’ energy undertakings (so-called “Bürgerenergiegesellschaften”). These projects enjoyed privileges under the EEG 2017 in terms of, inter alia, longer implementation periods and the possibility to participate in auctions for government funding prior to having obtained an emission permit.
As a result, the government identified a certain discontinuity risk regarding the expansion of the onshore wind energy sector. It expects a delayed realisation of these projects, negatively affecting the expansion of onshore wind energy plants in 2019 and 2020 as well as project developers, suppliers, and producers.35 As a first reaction, the government suspended the aforementioned privileges for Bürgerenergiegesellschaften in July 201736 for the auction rounds of February and May 2018, and prolonged the suspension in June 2018 for all further auction rounds until May 2020.37 Subsequently, the first auctions in 2018 showed a lower competition level, with prices rising back to the level of the first auction round in May 2017.38
In 2018, the BNetzA conducted the first joint auction, of 210 MW, for onshore wind energy and solar power installations. The pilot project under the EEG 2017 provides for a direct competition between different technologies for the years 2018–2020. The results of the first round show a high competition level, but also a clear dominance of solar power projects, since only bids for solar power stations at an average volume-weighted price of 4.67 ct/kWh were accepted in the first round. The BNetzA holds the successful reduction of costs for solar energy projects in previous auctions responsible for the dominance.39
The first auction for CHP-plants in December 2017 showed a very high level of competition and a volume-weighted average price of 4.05 ct/kWh.40 The bids totalled 82 MW; the lowest price accepted being 3.19 ct/kWh, and the highest price accepted being 4.99 ct/kWh.
Big merger: E.ON to acquire Innogy
In March 2018, E.ON SE (E.ON) and RWE AG (RWE) announced that E.ON is to acquire innogy SE (innogy), the renewable energy business, from its controlling shareholder RWE, as well as a series of asset swaps. By this, E.ON will become a company purely focused on providing energy networks and services to retail customers, while RWE will acquire E.ON and innogy’s renewables businesses and take a 16.76% stake in E.ON. The Federal Cartel Office (“Bundeskartellamt”) is currently examining the envisaged merger and will closely cooperate with the European Commission on this matter.
Grid-acquisition by Chinese investor blocked
The government recently decided that a 20% share of the German TSO 50Hertz, which was up for sale in 2018, should temporarily be acquired by the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW, a government-owned development bank) on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany. It considered 50Hertz, one of four TSOs in Germany, supplying about 18 million people, to be a key player in the implementation of the Energy Transition in Germany. The government defined the protection of the transmission system, a critical energy infrastructure under the Act on the Federal Office for Information Security, as a national security interest, since citizens and the business community expect a reliable energy supply.41 The action was preceded by a bid by the leading Chinese grid operator SGCC, and is no more than a temporary measure in order to protect one of the country’s most crucial infrastructures from foreign influences.
Power Purchase Agreements
The determination of the level of funding received for electricity generated from renewable sources via tendering procedures pursuant to EEG 2017 and the WindSeeG caused a price erosion. This is why market participants, in particular plant operators, are more than ever forced to think about new business models and remuneration concepts for the electricity generated from renewable sources beyond the subsidy scheme of the EEG 2017. This is where Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) come into play, an already well-established business model in other European countries, such as the Netherlands or Scandinavia. They can provide stability and long-term savings, for both the generator as well as the off-taker.
At present, a state-of-the-art PPA template complying with German law does not (yet) exist. In general, three different types of PPA exist: (i) on-site PPA; (ii) off-site PPA; and (iii) synthetic PPA (Contract for Difference). It is to be expected that such long-term PPAs will replace the existing legal subsidy scheme for most technologies, all the more considering that the 20-year EEG-funding period for numerous renewable energy facilities is about to end in the near future.42 A start has been made: recently, Greenpeace Energy as well as Statkraft Markets announced the conclusion of PPAs with onshore windfarm operators, enabling the latter’s further operation of their wind farms after expiry of the EEG-funding.43 Turbine producer Enercon GmbH, via its subsidiary Quadra Energy GmbH, is also offering long-term PPAs to old installations dropping out of EEG funding.
Digitalisation in business
As mentioned above, the energy sector is considered to be a high-potential area for blockchain technology. It is therefore not surprising that various energy supply companies as well as startups have started working on the development and testing of blockchain solutions for the energy sector within the last year. Just to name a few, TenneT TSO GmbH together with sonnen GmbH is currently using decentralised home storage facilities, which are connected via a blockchain, to stabilise the electricity grid. The aim is to test the extent to which emergency measures in the event of network shortages, such as regulating wind farms, can be reduced. Another notable blockchain project is Essen-based blockchain startup Conjoule GmbH (a JV of Innogy and Tepco), offering a digital peer-to-peer trading platform, enabling blockchain-processed transactions of electricity between consumers and prosumers directly in the neighbourhood. It will be interesting to see how blockchain will affect the German energy market, all the more considering that the legislator is about to adapt the legal framework in this regard.
100 Day Law
A first legislative project to implement the Coalition Agreement was promoted with a draft law to amend the EEG, the Combined Heat and Power Act and further provisions of energy law (“Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Änderung des Erneuerbare-Energien Gesetzes, des Kraft-Wärme-Kopplungsgesetzes und weiterer Bestimmungen des Energierechts”; so-called “100 Tage-Gesetz”, 100 Day Law44). This draft aimed to adapt the law to recent auction results and to accommodate the EU Commission’s requirements under State aid rules.
The draft, inter alia, envisages stipulating maximum remunerations (“Höchstwerte”) for onshore wind (5.7 ct/kWh) and solar (6.5 ct/kWh) to be granted in auctions. It further amends the WindSeeG to provide for a framework to permit offshore wind projects that are not connected to the grid without a tendering procedure.
Initially, the enactment was scheduled for summer 2018. Due to different views within the Coalition, however, the enactment of the 100 Day Law was postponed. It is assumed that the legislative process will resume in autumn 2018.
In order to further decarbonise its electricity mix, the government is considering phasing out its coal-fired power plants faster than previously envisaged. Due to the high public sensitivities, it has established a “Commission on Growth, Structural Change and Employment” (“Kohlekommission”) with the aim of defining a phase-out date and finding solutions for a swift and non-disruptive phase-out. The Commission has not yet published its results, even though according to public debate, coal phase-out shall possibly take place between 2035 and 2038.
Electricity Grid Action Plan
In order to accelerate grid expansion and upgrade the existing grids, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy recently presented the “Electricity Grid Action Plan”.45
The grid expansion is to be accelerated by improved internal auditing, including target agreements for all parties involved, and streamlined planning procedures. The government plans the revision of the Grid Expansion Acceleration Act (“Netzausbaubeschleunigungsgesetz”) in autumn 2018, providing for simplified and accelerated planning procedures, e.g. by dispensing with federal planning where an existing powerline is used. It aims to optimise the existing grid infrastructure, especially by using yet unused capacities as well as new technologies and operating systems, and tackling bottleneck issues.
Electronic market communication (MaKo 2020)
In June 2018, the BNetzA launched a consultation process in order to amend the current requirements for electronic market communication (so called MaKo 2020), in compliance with the requirements of the Act on the Digitalisation of the Energy Transition (“Gesetz zur Digitalisierung der Energiewende”). The consultation covers the adaption of business processes for the supply of customers with electricity (GPKE), the market processes for generating market locations (MPES), change processes in the field of metering (WiM), as well as the market rules for the performance of balance group accounting (MaBiS). The BNetzA intends to declare the changes of the market communication binding as of 1 December 2019. The period for comments has expired; it remains to be seen how the BNetzA will take into consideration the numerous comments received from the industry.
1. All figures taken from: Federal Statistics Office, Gross Electricity Production in Germany from 2015 to 2017 (Available at: https://www.destatis.de/EN/FactsFigures/EconomicSectors/Energy/Production/Tables/GrossElectricityProduction.html, call: 20 September 2018).
2. EEG Progress Report by the Federal Government, BT Drs. 19/3030, dated: 29 June 2018, p. 3 (Available at: https://dip21.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/19/030/1903030.pdf, call: 20 September 2018).
3. Ibid., p. 4 f.
4. Ibid., p. 4.
5. Ibid., p. 5.
6. Ibid., p. 3, 6.
7. https://www.bundesregierung.de/Content/DE/_Anlagen/2018/03/2018-03-14-koalitionsvertrag.pdf;js sionid=BEB161BF31687769AEE59FCED1CC34E3.s1t2?__blob=publicationFile&v=6 (call: 20 September 2018).
8. Ibid., p 72.
9. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-521_dedeen.htm (call: 20 September 2018).
10. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/european-countries-join-blockchain-partnership (call: 20 September 2018).
12. https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Sachgebiete/Energie/Unternehmen_Institutionen/ErneuerbareEnergien/Einspeisemanagement/Leitfaden3_0_E/Leitfaden3.0final.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=3 (call: 20 September 2018).
13. Ibid. p 38.
14. Ibid., p. 43.
15. Ibid., p. 11.
16. Cf. Ordinance on the Incremental Alignment of Grid Fees across Germany which the government adopted on the basis of the NeMoG on 25 April 2018 (Available at: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/V/verordnung-nemog.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4, call: 20 September 2018).
17. BGBl. 2017 I, 2532 ff. (Available at: https://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesanzeiger_BGBl&start=//*[@attr_id=%27bgbl117s2532.pdf%27]#__bgbl__%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl117s2532.pdf%27%5D__1537456386795, call: 20 September 2018).
18. Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf, Decision of 11 July 2018, VI-3 Kart 806/18 (V).
19. Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1222 of 24 July 2015 establishing a guideline on capacity allocation and congestion management.
20. https://www.epexspot.com/en/press-media/press/details/press/European_Cross-Border_Intraday_XBID_Solution_trades_exceed_2_5_million_since_go-live (call: 20 September 2018): “The intraday solution supports both explicit allocation on the German/French bidding zone border (as requested by the respective NRAs) and implicit continuous trading on all bidding zone borders taking part in the first go-live ‘wave’.
22. Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf, Decision of 6 December 2017, VI-3 Kart 123/16 (V).
23. Available at: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/DE/Service-Funktionen/Beschlusskammern/Beschlusskammer4/BK4_85_Offshore_Umlage/Leitfaden/Leitfaden_Offshore_Umlage_2013_download.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=6, dated October 2013 (call: 20 September 2018).
24. EC Dec. of 20 November 2017 – SA.48327, EC Dec. of 19 December 2017 – SA.46526, EC Dec. of 7 February 2018 – SA.45852, EC Dec. of 27 March 2018 – SA. 50395, EC Dec. of 27 March 2018 – SA.49416, EC Dec. of 28 May 2018 – SA.34045, EC Dec. of 21 June 2018 – SA.50940, EC Dec. of 1 August 2018 - SA.49522.
25. EC Dec. of 23 July 2014 – SA.38632.
26. EC Dec. of 19 December 2017 – SA.46526.
27. EC Dec. of 7 February 2018 – SA.45852.
28. EC Dec. of 28 May 2018 – SA.34045
29. EC Dec. of 1 August 2018 – SA.49522.
30. EEG Report (note 2)p. 14.
31. Ibid., p. 12.
32. Ibid., p. 15.
33. Ibid., p. 15.
34. Ibid., p. 14.
35. Ibid., p. 14.
36. Cf.. section 104 subsection 8 sentence 1 EEG 2017, introduced by NEMoG.
37. BGBl. 2018 I 862, Third Act to Amend the EEG 2017, dated 28 June 2018 (Available at: https://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav?startbk=Bundesanzeiger_BGBl&start=//*[@attr_id=%27bgbl118s0862.pdf%27]#__bgbl__%2F%2F*%5B%40attr_id%3D%27bgbl118s0862.pdf%27%5D__1537264814590, call: 20 September 2018).
38. Cf. Federal Network Agency, Press Release of 17 August 2018, p. 1 (Available at: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Allgemeines/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2018/20180817_Onshore18-3.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=3, call: 20 September 2018).
39. Cf. Federal Net Agency, Press Release of 12 April 2018, p. 1 (Available at: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/EN/2018/20180412_GEMA.html, call: 20 September 2018).
40. Cf. Federal Network Agency, Press release of 11 December 2017, p. 1 (Available at: https://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/EN/2017/08122017_KWK.html, call: 20 September 2018).
41. Joint Press Release of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Federal Ministry of Finance of 27 July 2018 (Available at: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2018/20180727-kfw-acquires-temporary-stake-in-german-tso-50hertz-on-behalf-of-the-federation.html, call: 20 September 2018).
42. In the onshore wind sector the legal statutory funding period for renewable energy facilities with a capacitiy of 16.3 GW will end between 2020 and 2025, cf. https://www.wind-energie.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/detail/weiterbetrieb-repowering-oder-rueckbau-bis-2025-gut-16000-megawatt-windenergieleistung-betroffen/ (call: 20. September 2018)., https://www.wind-energie.de/fileadmin/redaktion/dokumente/publikationen-oeffentlich/themen/02-technik-und-netze/06-betrieb/perspektiven-fuer-den-weiterbetrieb-von-wea-nach-2020-v3c.pdf, p. 70 (call: 20. September 2018).
43. https://www.greenpeace-energy.de/presse/artikel/greenpeace-energy-und-windpark-ellhoeft-schliessen-ersten-direkten-stromliefervertrag-fuer-privatkun.html (call: 20 September 2018); https://www.statkraft.de/presse/Pressemitteilungen/2018/statkraft-ermoglicht-ersten-wind-ppa-in-deutschland/ (call: 20 September 2018).
44. Available at: https://www.clearingstelle-eeg-kwkg.de/files/RefE_Stand_180423.pdf (call: 20 September 2018).
45. Available at: https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/A/aktionsplan-stromnetz.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=8 (call: 20 September 2018).