Source: Energy & Management Powernews, September 15, 2022
By 2030, 80% of electricity is to be renewable. So that can succeed, it needs also Agri-PV. The legal framework now finally provides the EEG 2023. Explanations by Jens Vollprecht*.
The Easter package recently passed by the Bundestag contains the largest amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) since its inception. The changes were so extensive that the legislature has given the EEG a new name from January 1, 2023. It will then be called EEG 2023. Right at the beginning, there is the homework that the legislature has given itself: In 2030, at least 80% of electricity is to come from renewable energies. If this is translated into concrete quantities of electricity, around 600 billion kWh of electricity from renewable energies must be available in 2030. As if this figure is not already impressive enough, the legislator is going one better. Up to the year 2030 an increase of the installed achievement of solar plants on 215 GW is aimed at.
A considerable part of it the free surface plants will have to shoulder - and these surfaces lie for the most part on agriculturally cultivated soils. Conflicts of use are thus pre-programmed. But does it have to be either power generation or agriculture? No, fortunately not: agri-photovoltaics (agri-PV) is set up in such a way that both electricity can be generated and agriculture can be carried out on the same area. And not only that. Agri-PV can also help reduce water consumption in agriculture, generate stable additional sources of income for farms, and thus increase the resilience of many farms and thus reduce the risk of crop failure.
Legal framework for Agri-PV has been followed
What more could you want? A suitable legal framework! Why. As is so often the case with innovative technologies, the legal framework is not "prepared" for it. And that's no wonder. After all, laws are also only made by people and not everyone has a crystal ball on the table. Accordingly, it has been somewhat of a challenge in many cases so far to underpin the existing legal framework with arguments in such a way that it helps Agri-PV get on its feet. It is therefore all the more welcome that the legislator has "followed suit" with the EEG 2023. Newly included in the EEG 2023 are, among other things, three "own" funding conditions for certain Agri-PV systems. The following conditions must essentially be met for all of these subsidy categories: Firstly, the areas must not be classified as moorland. On the other hand they may not have been legally binding as a nature reserve or as a national park established.
The further requirements differ then: are promoted with the first Fördertatbestand plants on arable land with simultaneous crop cultivation on the same area (Acker-Agri-PV). In order to meet the requirements of the second eligibility criterion, the plants must be installed on land with simultaneous agricultural use in the form of cultivation of permanent or perennial crops (Kulturen-Agri-PV). Only at the last minute, the third eligibility criterion was included:
This provides for the promotion of installations on grassland with simultaneous agricultural use as permanent grassland, if the area has not been designated as a national park, is not located in a Natura 2000 site and is not a habitat type listed in Annex I of Directive 92/43/EEC (Grassland-Agri-PV). If these Agri-PV systems are horizontally elevated, the value to be applied is even increased by a technology bonus, which amounts to 1.2 Ct/kWh if the surcharge is granted in 2023 and gradually decreases to 0.5 Ct/kWh if the surcharge is granted in 2026 to 2028. Whom the description of the Agri-PV plants is too wood-cutting, is right: the Federal Network Agency is called to determine the subtleties in a determination.
With a potential "relative" of the Agri-PV, the EEG 2023 can also come up with. If the plant is built on peat soils that have been drained and used for agriculture, and if the areas are permanently rewetted with the construction of the plant, a "separate" subsidy can also be claimed for these plants. Due to the higher costs, a peatland bonus of 0.5 Ct/kWh is provided for these plants. However, these plants will only become a real "relative" of Agri-PV when the Federal Network Agency regulates the additional agricultural use of the land (paludiculture) in its determination.
Satisfied? Not quite. A look into the crystal ball shows that there will also be horizontally elevated Agri-PV plants, whose financial support is determined by the EEG. These will not receive the technology bonus under the EEG 2023. The same applies to the moorland bonus. Speaking of the technology bonus. Presumably, this is also not high enough to refinance the costs for the elevation. It would be nice if these points were improved. Then it would rush in the Paragrafendschungel properly!
*Jens Vollprecht, lawyer and Diplom-Forstwirt, Becker Büttner Held, Berlin
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