The EU Commission has approved state aid for combined heat and power plants in Germany and a demand side response (DSR) scheme.
It added support for both schemes is in line with EU state aid rules and improves the integration of co-generation into the electricity market and security of supply.
The Commission believes the German Heat and Power Co-generation Act 2016 will contribute to energy efficiency, lower CO2 emissions and lead to a better integration of co-generated power into the electricity market.
The government will provide state aid to operators of new and highly efficient CHP plants as well as support the construction and expansion of district heating and cooling networks.
Operators will have to offer their electricity on the market and will receive support in the form of a fixed premium on top of the market price.
The Commission added the DSR scheme will allow German network operators to enter into flexible weekly contracts with customers for a total of 1.5GW of capacity.
This will let network operators to remotely and at short notice reduce consumption of those customers in exchange for the payment of a fee. The Commission believes the scheme will stabilise the electricity network by reducing electricity consumption of large consumers.
The impacts of Brexit in the energy sector will be part of the discussions at the Energy Live 2016 conference in London next Thursday. There are limited free tickets for energy end users and university students.
