About-face for biogas policy in Germany

The new renewable energy law (EEG 2014) came into force in Germany on 1 August 2014 and marks a turnaround for biogas. Future production will be much less geared to using energy crops. One of the new law’s aims is to reduce the financial cost of energy transition by slowing the growth of the most expensive electricity- generating sectors. Solid biomass and biogas find themselves in the line of fire. One of the main measures of the new law affecting biogas is the withdrawal of the premium for using energy crops (NawaRo-Bonus), to encourage the use of organic and farming waste. Another major upset is that to limit the remuneration of biogas installations, biogas plants with capacity in excess of 100 kW will henceforth only be eligible for financial support of up to 50% of their nominal installation capacity. The new payment system is still more generous to small installations that transform agricultural waste. The setting of the 100-MW ceiling on new biogas installations will result in a sharp drop in their number from 2015 onwards. From EurObserv’ER Biogas Barometer, November 2, 2014