Germany's renewables levy set at EUR 0.065/kWh for 2021

Germany’s renewable energy levy, the surcharge in consumers’ electricity bills that goes to support renewables, will be EUR 0.065 (USD 0.077) per kWh next year, reduced from EUR 0.06756 in 2020.

The Federal Network Agency, known as the Bundesnetzagetur, last week announced the new level and explained that the impact of the coronavirus crisis on power demand and prices would have led to a significant increase in the levy, but the stimulus package prevented that.

In 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak and measures led to lower demand and a drop in the wholesale price of electricity. The Renewable Energy Act (EEG) account recorded a deficit.

The transmission system operators (TSOs) in Germany determine the levy for the coming year based on expert forecasts. They expect Germany to add 5.1 GW of net renewable energy capacity in 2021, with green power production reaching 228 TWh for the year. Solar farms will be the main source of new capacity, while onshore wind additions are lagging significantly behind targets.

The EEG levy and the federal subsidy will have to cover around EUR 26.8 billion of payments to renewable energy generators in 2021, based on the forecast.

For 2021, the TSOs have also decided to lift the liquidity reserve by 2 percentage points to 10% because of the increased risks associated with the pandemic’s effect on the energy market.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.18)

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