BBE: EEG amendment misses entry into renewable electricity system

BBE: EEG amendment misses entry into renewable electricity system

"This is a bad day for the energy transition and climate protection, because bioenergy, as the only controllable renewable energy source, is no longer to be expanded to cover fluctuating feed-ins", said Helmut Lamp, Chairman of the Board of the German BioEnergy Association (BBE), expressing his indignation at the amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) passed by the German Bundestag today. "This amendment to the EEG is not a new start for the energy transition as announced by Federal Minister of Economics Sigmar Gabriel, but a concept-less work of art with no prospects for a renewable energy system. With his drastic cuts, Minister Gabriel is preventing technological innovations and possible ecological optimizations in bioenergy and is recklessly putting entrepreneurial livelihoods and jobs at risk", Helmut Lamp expresses his annoyance. The BBE cannot understand why the German Bundestag has not seized the opportunity that was available for the urgently needed corrections for bioenergy. "Although the expert hearings in the German Bundestag as well as expert opinions commissioned by the Federal Government, amendment resolutions of the Bundesrat and current amendments of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag have spoken out almost congruently in favor of trend-setting regulations for bioenergy, these were ignored and not implemented by the Federal Ministry of Economics in charge and ultimately also by the German Bundestag", Helmut Lamp expresses his incomprehension about the EEG negotiations of the Federal Government and in the German Bundestag. The BBE particularly criticizes the fact that no steering effect is to be achieved through feedstock tariffs for agricultural and forestry residues and waste materials, although these should be promoted in a focused manner in accordance with the coalition agreement and the EEG cornerstones. Even the far too low annual expansion target of 100 MW for new plants and the mobilization of residual and waste materials cannot be achieved. Although the changes made by the German Bundestag to the cabinet draft regarding the protection of existing bioenergy plants are to be positively acknowledged, the protection of legitimate expectations for investments already made on the basis of existing laws must be a fundamental matter of course in a constitutional state and in Germany as an industrial location and should not be sold as a political negotiating success, according to the BBE. The BBE emphasizes once again that only bioenergy enables cost-effective hedging of fluctuating feed-ins if coal-fired power plants are not to be used. Only bioenergy, in combination with electricity from wind and sun, makes the energy transition reliable. Electricity from biomass can be generated flexibly and in line with demand and is then also cheap and affordable compared to other flexibilization and balancing options. In addition, environmentally friendly heat can be provided as a by-product in a cost-effective and decentralized manner for industry, commerce, municipalities and households. The progress of a truly serious energy transition will therefore show that Germany needs a targeted further development of bioenergy for system security in the electricity market, for a climate-friendly, decentralized heat supply and for sustainable mobility. The BBE therefore urges politicians to actually recognize these undisputed advantages of bioenergy for a secure energy supply and for the economic development of rural areas and to give bioenergy the position it deserves in the further shaping of the energy transition with short-term measures. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ The Bundesverband BioEnergie e.V. (BBE) is the umbrella organization of the German bioenergy market. It was founded in 1998 in order to do justice to the diversity of the bioenergy market with all its manifestations and technology lines in the electricity, heating and transport sectors. Market players along the entire value chain of the biogenic electricity, heat and fuel market are organized in the BBE: from biomass cultivation and its provision to machine and plant construction to the planning and operation of bioenergy plants in the various sectors. Research institutions and universities complement the network's field of expertise and contribute to a continuous transfer of know-how.