The Federal Network Agency opened the first invitation to tender for biomass plants for the bidding period 1 September 2017.

With the new EEG, the legislator has also switched the promotion of biomass to a competitive investigation. "" This is a real and important step, "says Jochen Homann, President of the Federal Network Agency.

Payments under the EEG

The amount of payments for renewable electricity from biomass plants of a size of 150 kilowatts is now to be determined competitively. It is no longer prescribed by law. For this purpose, the Federal Network Agency carries out a tendering procedure once a year. The lowest bids are awarded until the volume of the tendering round is reached. For this round, it is 150 megawatts.

Investors can submit their bids by 1 September 2017. The maximum bid is 14.88 cents / kWh. In principle, the bidding procedure applies, according to which the surcharge corresponds to the price offered in each case. The prerequisite for participation is the official approval for the erection of the plant and its notification to the plant register by August 11, 2017.

Special features for existing biomass plants

A special feature of the calls for biomass is that already existing plants can participate. They can apply for ten-year follow-up funding if their remaining funding period under the EEG is less than eight years. There is no minimum bid size. Bids with a size of 150 kilowatts or less will receive the price of the last bid which has been added as a supplement.

The maximum value for bids for existing investments is in this round 16.9 cents / kWh.