Reform of German Renewable Energy Sources Act 2027 – Key changes for project developers and investors in Germany

1. Overview and objectives of the EEG 2027-Draft Act

With the EEG 2027-Draft Act, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is pursuing three core guiding principles: market orientation, cost efficiency, and grid compatibility.

To implement these principles, the expansion of renewables in Germany is intended to consider the energy supply system as a whole to a greater extent than in the past, and to be more closely synchronized with the expansion of the electricity grid.

The investment framework under the EEG 2027-Draft Act is intended to promote renewable energy in a market- and system-supportive manner while also dampening cost trends. Specifically, this is to be achieved through the abolition of fixed feed-in remuneration (Einspeisevergütung), the complete discontinuation of remuneration during periods of negative prices, and the end of financial support for smaller renewable energy plants with a capacity of less than 25 kW.

The EEG 2027-Draft Act also contains further material amendments that have become necessary due to European requirements under the Electricity Market Regulation and state aid requirements of the European Commission. This includes, in particular, the introduction of a clawback mechanism (Contracts for Difference, CfDs).

At the same time, the ministerial draft maintains the EEG’s existing target of increasing the share of electricity generated from renewable energy sources in gross electricity consumption to 80% by 2030. Accordingly, the expansion pathways (Ausbaupfade) are continued, with the resulting tender volumes largely maintained through 2032 and further increased for ground-mounted solar plants.

2. Major change for all renewable energy plants: Introduction of a clawback mechanism (CfDs)

a) New funding logic

Project developers and investors should be prepared for a fundamental shift in the funding logic for subsidized renewable energy plants (i.e., those plants with an installed capacity of more than 100 kW and with the exception of biomass plants) under the EEG 2027-Draft Act, with a clawback mechanism to be introduced in Germany, in line with EU law requirements. Section 20a EEG 2027-Draft Act provides for a financing model for this mechanism, in the form of two-sided CfDs, under which plant operators will no longer be permitted to retain revenues that exceed the applicable tariff (anzulegender Wert).

Under the CfD regime, in phases of higher electricity market prices the profits exceeding the applicable tariff will be clawed back. The draft ties into the existing market premium system and, as a general rule, maintains the existing model of subsidized direct marketing (geförderte Direktvermarktung) with production-dependent support. However, this model will in future be supplemented by a “refinancing contribution” (Refinanzierungsbeitrag) payable by the plant operator if the energy-source-specific annual market value (energieträgerspezifischer Jahresmarktwert) exceeds the applicable tariff.

The new clawback mechanism set out in Section 20a(1) EEG 2027-Draft Act is based on calendar years. Accordingly, either a “clawback year” or a “support year” applies.

The basic economic logic of the new CfD system will be as follows:

• In years in which the energy-source-specific annual market value is higher than the applicable tariff that applies to the renewable energy plant, the plant operator must pay a refinancing contribution to the grid operator (“clawback year”).
• In years in which the energy-source-specific annual market value is lower than the applicable tariff in the respective calendar year, the plant operator receives – as before – the market premium (Marktprämie) from the grid operator (“support year”).

Where, under this logic, a clawback year applies, the plant operator must pay the refinancing contribution to the grid operator, and the grid operator is obliged to collect the refinancing contribution from the plant operator in order to ensure comprehensive collection and forwarding to the central EEG account.

The future clawback mechanism applies to all “new plants” under the EEG 2027-Draft Act. This includes renewable energy plants that have received an EEG award in an EEG tender procedure with a bid date after 1 January 2027. For all other existing plants that were awarded under the current EEG or an older version of it, the existing market premium model without a clawback mechanism will continue to apply.

b) Calculation of the refinancing contribution

Whether a refinancing contribution must be paid by the plant operator is determined annually, retrospectively, for the preceding calendar year, in accordance with Annex 1 No. 4 to the EEG 2027-Draft Act, as follows:

RB = JW – AW

RB = refinancing contribution (Refinanzierungsbeitrag)

JW = annual market value (Jahresmarktwert)

AW = applicable tariff (anzulegender Wert)

If, under this formula, a clawback year applies, the refinancing contribution is payable for each kilowatt-hour of electricity that is generated by the plant in such a clawback year and fed into the grid, with electricity quantities temporarily stored in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) also being taken into account. While the earlier unofficial draft version of the EEG 2027 circulated in February still provided for a so-called “neutral corridor” above the applicable value (within which there would have been neither a entitlement to receive support nor an obligation to pay the refinancing contribution), under the EEG 2027-Draft Act, the refinancing contribution will now apply immediately once the annual market value exceeds the applicable value.

This calculation formula is supplemented in the EEG 2027-Draft Act by additional, specific provisions. In particular, the refinancing contribution is to be adjusted in periods of low market revenues (Zeiten geringer Markterlöse). This adjustment is intended for situations in which the spot market price is positive throughout the clawback year, but where the price in individual quarter-hour intervals is so low that, after deducting its costs and paying the refinancing contribution, a plant operator can no longer generate a profit, and it would therefore be foreseeable that the operator would curtail production at the renewable energy plant despite the presence of a positive market value.

In such situations, the refinancing contribution is to be reduced accordingly and is calculated as follows:

RB_adjusted = spot market price – minimum revenue

Minimum revenues (Mindesterlöse) in cents/kWh are specified for:

Solar plants: 0.5 ct./kWh

Onshore wind energy: 1 ct./kWh

The minimum revenue is intended to cover the plant operators’ ongoing costs and to provide an incentive to not curtail production at the renewable energy plant. The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) is also authorized to adjust the amount of these minimum revenues, although only increases (and not reductions) are permitted.

c) Opt-out option

The refinancing contribution is mandatory for all subsidized renewable energy plants. However, under the EEG 2027-Draft Act there is a one-time option to exit the EEG support regime and thus also the end the obligation to pay the refinancing contribution. The plant operator may notify the grid operator that it no longer wishes to receive support for the electricity generated by the plant going forward. This also eliminates the payment obligation for the refinancing contribution. Such declaration is final, however, and may only be made within the first 10 years after the commissioning of the respective renewable energy plants.

d) Further relevant details

As the opt-out option already demonstrates, the obligation to pay the refinancing contribution is directly linked to the receipt of EEG subsidies. This concept is also reflected in the following additional individual provisions:

• The obligation to pay the refinancing contribution applies for a clawback period of 20 years from commissioning of the plant, i.e., in line with the tariff period.
• Where EEG support is utilized only for a portion of the installed capacity, the obligation to pay the refinancing contribution likewise extends only to the electricity quantities generated with that portion.
• During periods of negative spot market prices, the payment obligation for the refinancing contribution – just like the entitlement to EEG remuneration – is reduced to zero. These periods are aggregated into support and clawback periods on a quarter-hourly basis.
• Under the EEG 2027-Draft Act, operators of subsidized renewable energy plants will continue to have the right to change the marketing form under the EEG on a monthly basis (without losing the EEG award, provided the opt-out option has not been exercised). In particular, operators will have the right to switch between subsidized direct marketing (market premium) and other direct marketing (sonstige Direktvermarktung, marketing via a PPA). However, the obligation to pay the refinancing contribution also applies to marketing by way of other direct marketing and thus is not tied to actual remuneration via the market premium: Instead, it already attaches to the general eligibility for EEG support, i.e., solely to the fact that the plant operator has the EEG award as a fallback option and can theoretically switch back into subsidized direct marketing at any time.

3. Relevant changes for onshore wind energy

a) Introduction of resilience auctions for onshore wind

Due to EU law requirements, the EEG 2027-Draft Act introduces resilience auctions (Resilienzausschreibungen), which will also apply to onshore wind.

The general objective of the resilience auctions is to strengthen the resilience of European industry and the energy supply and to reduce existing dependencies, or to counteract emerging new dependencies. However, the EEG 2027-Draft Act initially anchors only the core principles of this new auction category and sets the auction volumes (3,500 MW per year).

Further details are to be determined subsequently in an ordinance, including, in particular, the detailed design of the qualitative award criteria (e.g., supply chain resilience, sustainability, and cybersecurity).

b) Expansion path and auction volume

• Continuation of the existing expansion path: The existing auction path for onshore wind also forms the basis of Section 4 of the EEG 2027-Draft Act. The objective of increasing installed capacity for onshore wind to 160 GW by 2040 remains unchanged.
• Stabilization of the auction volume: For onshore wind, the current EEG provides for an annual auction volume of 10,000 MW per year through 2028. This auction volume will be maintained for the years 2029–2032.

Under Section 28e EEG 2027-Draft Act, 3,500 MW per year are provided for the resilience auctions. These volumes are deducted from the auction volume for regular auctions for onshore wind. However, if volumes cannot be awarded in the resilience auctions, they are added back to the auction volume for regular auctions for onshore wind in the following year.

c) New structure of auction dates

As is currently the case under the existing legal framework, there will continue to be four auction dates per year for onshore wind. However, due to the introduction of the resilience auctions, the structure of the auction dates will change going forward, as one auction date will always be reserved for the resilience auction.

In the introductory year, 2027, the resilience auction will take place on 1 August, and the regular auctions for onshore wind will take place on 1 February, 1 May, and 1 November. From 2028 onwards, the bid date of 1 February will be reserved for the resilience auctions, and the regular auctions will then take place on 1 May, 1 August, and 1 November.

d) Further detailed changes for onshore wind

• Adjustment of the start of remuneration: For awarded onshore wind turbines, the EEG realization period (Realisierungszeitraum) was previously extended to 36 months after publication of the award. However, the entitlement to receive remuneration under the EEG currently begins no later than 30 months after publication of the award (Section 36i EEG). This period will now be synchronized under the EEG 2027-Draft Act such that the start of remuneration will also occur no later than 36 months.
• Fine-tuning in the reference yield model (Referenzertragsmodell): In Section 36h(1) EEG 2027-Draft Act, the correction factor (Korrekturfaktor) at the 50% site in the southern region is to be reduced, for reasons of cost efficiency, from 1.55 to 1.50.
• Municipal participation: Even though municipal participation under Section 6 EEG is formulated across technologies, onshore wind turbines are a key use case for the financial participation of municipalities. Under the EEG 2027-Draft Act, the participation basis is shifted from the fed-in electricity quantity to the electricity quantity actually generated. Municipal participation eligibility is thus decoupled from the question of whether the electricity is consumed or stored in front of or behind the grid connection point, so that municipal participation is preserved even for self-consumption and storage concepts.

4. Relevant changes for ground-mounted solar plants

a) Introduction of resilience auctions for ground-mounted solar

The new resilience auctions pursuant to Section 39n EEG 2027-Draft Act (see above) will be introduced not only for onshore wind but also for ground-mounted solar plants. For ground-mounted solar, an annual auction volume of 500 MW is set by law (Section 28e EEG 2027-Draft Act), which – just as with onshore wind – is credited against the regular auction volume (i.e., not auctioned in addition).

b) Expansion path and auction volume

• Continuation of the expansion path: The existing auction path for solar energy overall also forms the basis of Section 4 EEG 2027-Draft Act, and the objective of increasing installed solar capacity to 400 GW by 2040 remains unchanged. However, the EEG 2027-Draft Act shifts the focus of future development: In order to strengthen the cost efficiency of solar expansion, a stronger emphasis is to be placed on cost-effective ground-mounted solar plants, with less emphasis on rooftop solar plants. Accordingly, the previous “50% rooftop quota” in Section 4, sentence 2 of the EEG, under which at least half of solar installation must be attributable to rooftop plants, is deleted.
• Increase of the auction volume: The EEG 2027-Draft Act provides for a significant increase in the auction volume for ground-mounted solar plants. Currently, the EEG provides for an annual auction volume of 9,900 MW for these plants in the years 2025 to 2029. Going forward, the annual auction volume in the years 2027 to 2032 is increased to 14,000 MW each year. In parallel, the EEG 2027-Draft Act reduces the volume for rooftop solar plants from 2,300 MW per year in the years 2026 to 2029 to only 1,500 MW per year in the years 2027 to 2032. The solar expansion path is thus clearly shifted in favor of ground-mounted solar plants.

c) New structure of auction dates

Against the background of the introduction of the resilience auctions, the number of auction dates for ground-mounted solar plants will be increased from three to four going forward. As is already the case under the current legal framework, the regular auctions for ground-mounted solar plants will take place on 1 March, 1 July, and 1 December. From 2027, an additional bid date for resilience auctions will be introduced on 1 September.

d) Further detailed amendments for ground-mounted solar plants

• Clarifications regarding aggregation of plants (Anlagenzusammenfassung): Section 24(2), sentence 3 of the EEG 2027-Draft Act introduces a clarification to the rules on aggregation of plants, which often have significant practical relevance for ground-mounted solar plants. Under this provision, a ground-mounted solar plant that is considered privileged in the outer area under planning law (Außenbereich) pursuant to Section 35(1) German Building Code, and a non-privileged ground-mounted solar plant that was constructed within the scope of a development plan (Bebauungsplan), will no longer be aggregated by law into a one single plant pursuant to Section 24(2) EEG.

This legislative change is aimed at addressing cases in which non-privileged plants are “overtaken” during the development plan procedure by privileged plants, with the risk that, at the time of commissioning, they no longer are eligible to receive the payment entitlement (Zahlungsberechtigung) required for the EEG support due to the statutory rules of the aggregation of plants. Since operators of non-privileged plants will often not yet be aware of privileged plants whose project planning begins later than the time of their investment decision, the legislator considers the operator’s confidence in the investment sufficiently worthy of protection to justify an exception to the plant aggregation requirement, which remains generally applicable.

• 50 MW cap: The maximum bid volume of 50 MW, already known from the EEG 2023, is confirmed under the EEG 2027-Draft Act and formulated consistently across segments. However, this rule remains subject to a state aid law condition precedent (cf. Section 102 EEG 2027-Draft Act), so it remains to be seen when this rule will start to apply. Pending the state aid approval long anticipated under the current EEG, the cap therefore continues to be 20 MW for the time being.

5. Significance of BESS in the EEG 2027

Battery Energy Storage Systems are not addressed in the EEG 2027-Draft Act as a standalone technology eligible for comprehensive support; rather, they are treated primarily as a system component to increase the flexibility of renewable energy plants and grids.

The EEG regime is being reconfigured so that BESS are expected to be economically viable through market logic and grid relief, not through traditional EEG support. For this reason, the previous innovation auctions (Innovationsausschreibung) will be discontinued. Accordingly, there will be no direct support for BESS (in combination with renewable energy plants). Instead, the EEG 2027-Draft Act creates indirect incentives and effects for increased deployment of BESS.

Key considerations include that:

• BESS may become relevant under the future CfD logic, in particular to smooth revenue profiles. For example, BESS could be used to generate revenues in the economically most favorable time windows without triggering excessive clawback (e.g., by shifting generation/dispatch within the year).
• The existing rules on negative prices will remain in force under the EEG 2027-Draft Act. As is the case today, BESS can be used during these periods to absorb excess electricity.
• A storage component may also be of qualitative relevance in the new resilience auctions. Going forward, resilience auctions will be conducted based on qualitative criteria, including, among others, system stability. In projects, BESS can increase the likelihood of receiving an award as a qualitative resilience feature.

6. Outlook and initial assessment

The ministerial draft of the EEG 2027 will now undergo consultation with industry associations and will subsequently be introduced (potentially in a further revised version) into the parliamentary legislative procedure, which is not expected to be completed before the fall of this year.

As the major EEG reforms in recent years have shown, further amendments are to be expected during the legislative procedure. The new EEG 2027 is scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2027.

Irrespective of possible further changes in the ongoing procedure, the now-published ministerial draft already makes sufficiently clear what major changes can be expected under the EEG 2027.

Key changes include:

• The focus of the new regulations on the introduction of the clawback mechanism with the refinancing contribution. Even though this comes as no surprise given European requirements, a paradigm shift in the EEG subsidy regime is now imminent: The familiar floor protection provided by the market premium will, in the future, be inextricably linked to a revenue cap through the obligation to pay the refinancing contribution. The profit margin for operators of renewable energy plants and investors will also therefore be narrowed in the future, and the economic upside potential during high-price phases will be limited.
• For project developers and investors, the new CfD support framework therefore means that bid calculations in EEG tender procedures will need to be approached differently in the future (full-year price distribution, CfD cap, risk of high market values), and the business cases for Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and EEG options will change, particularly since a refinancing contribution will also be applied to the “other direct marketing” (i.e., via PPAs) in the future. The opt-out option will also take on new strategic significance, particularly for the structuring of PPA projects. In addition, the new clawback mechanism will increase regulatory and billing complexity (such as calculation at quarter-hour intervals, direct marketing, and data management) and requires professional structures and IT systems.

At the same time, it is clear that the EEG 2027 will continue to provide a reliable investment framework for renewable energy in Germany. For existing plants, the CfD provisions will not apply due to the constitutionally anchored principle of protection of trust (Vertrauensschutzprinzip). Moreover, investments in new plants will offer opportunities, given long-term stable expansion targets and continued auction volumes for onshore wind and ground-mounted solar plants.

The future focus on more cost-effective ground-mounted solar plants is also likely to strengthen the “utility-scale solar” segment. However, this raises the question of how the recently significantly undersubscribed EEG auctions can be made more attractive again in order to restore the investment viability of ground-mounted solar plants. Notably, the ministerial draft also does not address how the recently significantly oversubscribed wind auctions are to be handled. There is a pressing need for remedial measures to bring to life the large number of permitted wind projects that have recently been unsuccessful in EEG auctions.

We will keep you informed of further developments regarding the EEG 2027. Please feel free to contact us at any time if you have questions regarding the planned changes.