EEG 2021 – greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050?

On 3 March 2021, Luther and the auditing firm Ebner Stolz together held the “10^th Leipzig EEG Day”, an event that is now established throughout Germany. More than 300 company representatives attended the digital event, which is a new record in terms of the number of participants!

The main topic was the “EEG 2021”, the German Renewable Energy Sources Act 2021, which came into force in January 2021. The law for the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources, which was first enacted 22 years ago with only just 12 sections, has since developed into a comprehensive catalogue of provisions that give rise to numerous questions.

“The industry’s path to achieving greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050 opens up opportunities, but also holds challenges. What entrepreneurs need is predictability when planning to invest in climate protection measures,” said Dr Gernot-Rüdiger Engel, Partner and a member of Luther’s energy law team. He predicted: “In 2050, there will be two types of companies: greenhouse gas neutral ones and those that can be found in history books.”

Dr Angelo Vallone, another Partner from Luther’s energy law team, stated: “Power purchase agreements (PPAs) for renewable energy are an important building block on the road to greenhouse gas neutrality.”

The 10^th Leipzig EEG Day focused on the following issues:

1. Limiting the EEG surcharge remains a perennial issue in the energy industry.

2. Investment decisions require predictability in planning and legal certainty.

3. Measuring and estimating the amounts of electricity provided to third parties remains a challenge.

4. PPAs open up new opportunities for companies when it comes to using renewable electricity.

5. Climate protection is a megatrend and will permeate all areas of the economy in the future.

The companies felt a need to discuss the topic of predictability when planning to invest in climate protection. The development of the EEG surcharge and the carbon price were also discussed. The companies took a critical stance towards the existing climate protection instruments, which, in their opinion, are not yet coordinated. The distinction between the companies’ own electricity consumption and the amounts of electricity passed on to third parties also continues to be an issue.

The date for the 11^th Leipzig EEG Day has already been set:

2 March 2022