Price ceilings for biomass and biomethane installation auctions
Year of issue 2024
Date of issue 2024.02.26
The Bundesnetzagentur has today determined the price ceilings for the auctions for biomass and biomethane installations to be held in the next twelve months. The price ceiling for new biomass installations is now 19.43 cents per kilowatt hour and the one for existing biomass installations is 19.83 ct/kWh. Up to 21.03 ct/kWh may now be bid for biomethane installations.
"Determining a price ceiling for existing biomass installations ensures stable and reliable conditions. Raising the ceilings for new biomass installations and biomethane installations takes account of the low number of bids in these sectors in recent auctions and the higher levelised costs of electricity,"
said Klaus Müller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur.
Adjustment of price ceilings for biomass auctions
The new determination applies to biomass installations supported via auctions in accordance with the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). Bids may be submitted to these auctions both for financial support for new installations and for continued support for existing ones.
The ceiling for new biomass installations was increased from the value determined last year because hardly any bids were received for these plants and the levelised costs of electricity of new installations are significantly higher than the previous price ceiling.
The figure for existing biomass installations did not have to be raised because the price ceiling set in a determination in 2023 created a great deal of competitive intensity in this segment, which is expected to continue this year.
Adjustment of price ceiling for biomethane auctions
In the auctions for installations that produce electricity using biogas fed into the gas network at another point (biomethane installations), the Bundesnetzagentur had not previously issued any determination on a price ceiling. No bids were submitted by either of the last two bid deadlines. The new price ceiling will help to close this obvious gap in support.
Further information
The determinations apply to the auctions in the next twelve months, including the two bid deadlines of 1 April 2024 announced today.
The determinations (in German) may be accessed online:
- Price ceilings for biomass auctions: www.bundesnetzagentur.de/ausschreibungen-biomasse
- Price ceiling for biomethane auctions: www.bundesnetzagentur.de/ausschreibungen-biomethan
The determinations will also be published in the next Official Gazette of the Bundesnetzagentur.