Biogas in Germany
General
For renewable electricity, the Renewable Energy Sources Act (Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz,
EEG) came into operation on April 1st, 2000. It ensured independent
power producers, either individuals or companies, to be able to deliver
power to the electricity grid: grid operators were obliged to accept
this power and to pay fixed tariffs to the producers: feed-in tariffs.
The Act was revised in the year 2004 (August
1st, adopted on July 21st, 2004). For the year 2009 new amendments were
made to the Act (adopted on June 6th, 2008). A feed-in tariff is
guaranteed for 20 years for most technologies (only hydropower has a
different period). In order to compensate for technology learning
effects (through economies of scale and efficient production and
conversion) the tariff is each year decreased with a certain percentage.
Regarding renewable
heating and cooling, the Bundestag adopted on 6 June
2008 a
law on the promotion of renewable energies in the heat sector (Erneuerbare Energien Wärmegesetz,
known as EEWärmeG). This law, which will take effect on January 1st
2009, obliges the owners of new buildings to cover a part of their
heating needs from renewable energy. The law recognises solar energy,
biomass, geothermal energy and ambient air heat. The obligatory part
depends on the type of renewable energies used in the building. It is
15% for solar energy, 30% for biogas and 50% for all the others. Among
these other renewables, biomass fuels (firewood, pellets, chips, etc.)
can only be used in high-yield boilers that comply with air quality
legislation. The owners can, if they so desire, combine several
different sources of energy. A solar collector can in this way be
completed by a wood pellet burning boiler. The EEGWärmeG law does not
only consist of obligations. It also reinforces the program of
development of the renewable energies market in allotting it €500
million per year up to 2012.
For biofuels, a law on biofuels (Biokraft-stoffquotengesetz)
came
into force on 1st January 2007, consisting of a partial taxation
associated with a quota policy.
On November 7th 2007, the renewable energy law
was evaluated and judged pertinent by the German Parliament. This
evaluation is based on indicators of installed capacity, on the number
of tons of CO2 prevented and on the creation of jobs. The Parliament’s
report also recommended increasing the share of renewable electricity
to 27% in 2010. The report also called on the adjustment of the feed-in
tariff of certain technologies including onshore and offshore wind
power.
According
to the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources
the target for the share of energy from renewable sources in gross
final consumption of energy in the year 2020 for Germany is 18% (in the
year 2005 the share was 5.8%). The Directive has a mandatory 10 %
target for transport to be achieved by all Member States.
Renewable energy projections according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plan for Germany
The
National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) for Germany was submitted
in August 2010. The target according to Annex I of Directive 2009/28/EC
is 18% for the year 2020 and the projected NREAP share in that year is
19.6%. According to the projection, the most important
contribution in the year 2020 is expected from biomass (renewable
heating and cooling) (11355 ktoe, 29% of all renewable energy). Second
important contribution is expected from wind power (104.4 TWh or 8980
ktoe, 23% of all renewable energy). The third largest contribution is
from biodiesel (renewable transport) (4443 ktoe, 12% of all renewable
energy). Wind power contributes with 45.8 GW (104.4 TWh) in the year
2020 (onshore wind 35.8 GW and 72.7 TWh, offshore wind 10.0 GW and 31.8
TWh). For solar photovoltaic the 2020 contribution is projected to be
51.8 GW (41.4 TWh). For solar thermal the 2020 contribution is
projected to be 1245 ktoe. The two most important biofuels are
projected to contribute 4443 ktoe (biodiesel) and 857 ktoe (bioethanol
/ bio-ETBE) by 2020. The renewable electricity production from solid
biomass amounts to 24.6 TWh (2113 ktoe) and for biogas it is expected
to be 23.4 TWh (2015 ktoe). The consumption of renewable heat is
expected to amount to 8952 ktoe for solid biomass and 1692 ktoe for
biogas.
Renewable heat and
electricity: biogas
According
to the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) for Germany the
contribution of electricity from biogas amounts to 13.8 TWh (2.4 GW) in
the year 2010 and 23.4 TWh (3.8 GW) in the year 2020. In both energy
and capacity terms, this represents an average annual growth of 5%
per year. Renewable heat from biogas is projected to amount to 912 ktoe
in the year 2010 and 1692 ktoe in the year 2020 (representing an
average annual growth of 6% per year). Source: ECN database on National
Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs), data for Germany, http://www.ecn.nl/nreap (October 2010).
The
law on renewable energy was amended on the 6th of June 2008. From 2009
onwards, the degression of the feed in tariff for biomass will be
changed from 1.5%to 1%. The feed in tariff for one kWh of electricity
coming from biomass for plants under 150 kWe will amount to €c
11.67/kWh. The premium for electricity produced from agricultural
biogas will be raised from€c 6/kWh to 7 for plants below 500 kWe. To
this will be added a premium for production units using more than 30%
liquid manure (€c 4/kWh for plants under 150 kWe and €c 1/kWh for
plants under 500 kWe) or a premium of €c 2/kWh if the main source is
waste coming from the cleaning of natural green spaces for units below
500 kWe. The premium for cogeneration will be raised from €c 2/kWh to 3
for plants below 20MWe and the technology premium will be maintained.
Another innovation will be that units producing purified biogas will
benefit from a premium which will depend on the plant efficiency: €c
2/kWh for units producing 350 Nm3 per hour and €c 1/kWh for units
producing up to 700 Nm3 per hour. The new law also foresees the
increase of the feed in tariff for electricity produced from landfill
gas for units up to 500 kWe, thus passing from €c 7.11/kWh to €c 9/kWh
and the continuation of the €c 6.16/kWh tariff for plants up to 5MW.
The tariff will remain unchanged for sewage sludge biogas: €c 7.11/kWh
up to 500 kWe and €c 6.16/kWh up to 5 MW. In parallel, the German
government passed a new law on 12 March 2008 concerning injection into
the gas network, in order to promote the injection of biomethane
(purified biogas). The aim of this new law is to replace 10% of natural
gas consumption with biogas as of 2030. As for electricity produced
from renewable sources, the law gives biomethane suppliers priority for
injecting their output into the natural gas network. It also stipulates
that a large share of the costs shall be borne by the network operator
and not by the supplier. In the processing of biogas to natural gas quality, technological
requirements are made in the MAP-guidelines, as well as in the EEG and
EEWärmeG. Further provisions are made in the Gas Grid Access Ordinance.
Improved feed-in conditions for biogas treated to reach natural gas
quality (bio-methane) into the gas grid have been achieved with the
Ordinance for the Promotion of Biogas Supply into the Existing Gas
System (Verordnung zur Förderung der Biogaseinspeisung in das bestehende Erdgasnetz)
from 8 April 2008. Examination of the gas infrastructure and its
suitability for biomethane integration has taken place through
various research projects. Some examples are:
· Agency of
Renewable Resources (FNR) (ed.): Einspeisung von Biogas in das
Erdgasnetz (Feeding of biogas into the natural gas grid)
· BMBF joint project Biogaseinspeisung (Biogas feed-in) (see website: http://www.biogaseinspeisung.de)
· BMU contribution Gasnetze der Zukunft (Gas Grids of the Future) (see website: http://www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de/presse/bericht.php?titel=100622_gasnetzederzukunft)
The
KfW Program Renewable Energies ‘Premium’ is part of the market
incentive program. The promotion is subject to the ’Guidelines for the
support
of measures to use renewable energies in the heating market’. The
current version is from 9 July 2010. In this section of the MAP,
low-interest
loans with repayment subsidies are granted for
renewable energy heat produced in large installations. Mainly small and
medium enterprises are supported. Under the current funding guidelines,
among others, installations for the processing of biogas to natural gas
quality with integration into a natural gas grid and biogas transport
lines for untreated biogas, from 300 m linear distance are supported.
The
Energy Tax Act (EnergieStG): provides a tax exemption for biogas which
is combusted immediately after production (without prior input into the
gas grid) or which is used in a CHP-plant.
Future programme changes
expected
The EEG is supposed to be the main RE support instrument up to 2010 and possibly
longer.
Sources
Interactive EurObserv’ER Database, http://www.eurobserv-er.org (status
2007)
Federal Republic of Germany, National
Renewable Energy Action Plan in accordance with Directive 2009/28/EC on
the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform/action_plan_en.htm (2010)
Mindestvergütungssätze
nach dem neuen Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz (EEG) vom 21. Juli 2004
(http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de, sourced January 2008)
Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit (BMU) leaflet,
EEG - Das Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz - Die
Erfolgsgeschichte nachhaltiger Politik für den Standort Deutschland, July
2007
Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit
(BMU), The Renewable Energies Heat Act in brief, http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/ee_waermegesetz_fragen_en.pdf
(sourced January 2009)
Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und
Reaktorsicherheit (BMU), List of English documents concerning the renewable
energies sector 16th legislative term, http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/english (sourced March 2009)
Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und
Reaktorsicherheit (BMU), Renewable Energy Sources Act Progress Report 2007, http://www.erneuerbare-energien.de/files/pdfs/allgemein/application/pdf/erfahrungsbericht_eeg_2007_zf_en.pdf (sourced March 2009)
The National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) are all published on the Transparency Platform on Renewable Energy: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform/action_plan_en.htm (sourced July - December 2010)
Renewable Energy Projections as Published in the National Renewable Energy Action Plans of the European Member States, http://www.ecn.nl/nreap (sourced December 2010)
Interactive EurObserv’ER Database
http://www.eurobserv-er.org
Last update: December 2010
This information can be referenced without permission provided that the
source is mentioned completely and correctly: 'Interactive EurObserv'ER
Database, http://www.eurobserv-er.org (date of last update)'
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