Germany: Fachverband Biogas urges quick connection regulations for biogas plants

Mr Horst Seide, Chairman of the German Biogas Association (Fachverband Biogas) spoke at the Agritechnica conference on the German biogas sector.

During a press conference on 11 November, Mr Seide warned about the possibility of further job losses in the country’s stagnating biogas sector.

The German Biogas Association had already called viable connection rules at an early stage in this context. “The tariffs for biogas plants will continue to be determined on tenders,” remarked Mr Seide. Nevertheless, he denounced as well that the increasing demand from abroad cannot compensate for the domestic business. The German Biogas Association highlights that the solution is only through constructive suggestions for development of tender procedures that will ensure the survival of the industry – both the existing plants as well as planned plants.

To mitigate the downturn in the sector, he called on the government to give “clear signals” on a policy to speed up fast grid-connections for electricity producing facilities. He added: “Fast connection rules are of fundamental importance. In addition to securing the existing installations, this also means opportunities for others”.

Mr Seide said only 19MW of electricity-to-grid capacity would be added this year in Germany from about 200 mainly small-scale manure-fed facilities with capacities of about 75kWe. Germany was the global leader in anaerobic digestion until last year’s subsidy cuts.

Source: Fachverband Biogas
Read more here (in German).