Offshore Wind Worldwide 2022 edition - Flipbook - Page 90
90
Hogan
Lovells
Germany
tariffs, and market premiums (see section
II.C), grid connection, transmission and
distribution issues are subject to the
Renewable Energies Act.17
3. Energy Industry Act
The Energy Industry Act18 primarily
regulates issues regarding the operation
and access to the electricity grids. With
respect to offshore wind energy, the act
includes rules on the duty of the
transmission system operators to
construct and operate the grid connection
systems for OWTGs (see section V).
B. Scheme in relation to exclusivity to
construct, own, and operate a
project, as well as to receive feed-in
revenues
1. Exclusivity
The successful bidder receiving the award
for a specific site under the mandatory
tender process conducted under the
Offshore Wind Energy Act has the
exclusive right to take part in the
procedure for the planning approval
(Planfeststellungsbeschluss), which is the
type of permit required for theconstruction
and operation of OWTGs. Thus, only the
bidder receiving the award will be able to
realise its project on a specific site.
2. Central Model
The receipt of feed-in revenues in the form
of public benefits is subject to the
provisions of the Renewable Energies Act,
in particular sec. 19 of the Renewable
Energies Act. The entitlement to receive
payments under this regime is conditional
upon the acceptance of the bid under the
tender and therefore exclusive to the
successful bidder.
As part of the Offshore Wind Energy Act,
Germany has introduced a “central” model
under which the federal state is
responsible not only for the spatial
planning but also for the pre-examination
of possible installation sites. The central
model is a stepped planning and tender
process characterised by the following
features:
3. Site Development Plan
In a first step, the Federal Maritime and
Hydrographic Agency sets up a “Site
Development Plan” for the German EEZ
for the years 2026 to at least 2030. This
Site Development Plan determines the
zoning regulations mainly with respect to
OWTGs and GCSs, including zones
(Gebiete) for offshore wind and particular
sites within a zone, sequence of
participation of sites in the tender; target
installation years for the OWTGs in
particular sites/GCSs, locations of
converter platforms etc. The Site
Development Plan can also include
determinations for “other energy
generation areas” (see VII below).
According to the Offshore Wind Energy
Act, the Site Development Plan shall allow
for a tender volume of approx. 1 GW in the
17 Available at: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/eeg_2014/EEG_2021.pdf.
18 Available at: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/enwg_2005/EnWG.pdf.