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3rd Schwerin Energy Law Conference

New opportunities for wind and solar farms – what does the future hold for the EEG?

At the 3rd Schwerin Energy Law Conference, more than 80 participants – including numerous representatives of rural local authorities, project developers, plant operators and landowners – were briefed on current legal developments in the field of renewable energy and their implications for existing and future energy projects.

Lawyer John Booth opened the event and emphasised that changes to the political framework, proposed legislation and bottlenecks in grid expansion were creating significantly more challenging economic conditions for wind and photovoltaic projects.

The individual topics were addressed by our colleagues in the subsequent presentations. Lawyer Dr Thomas Hänsch provided an insight into the significant legislative changes expected as a result of the altered political framework; he presented the draft of the EEG 2027 and explained how the proposed ‘Contracts for Differences’ model, or ‘CfD’ model for short, and the planned levy could lead to altered profitability calculations for wind and ground-mounted solar projects.

Even now, the lawyers in our firm’s Energy Law team are observing that project developers are increasingly insisting on re-examining the economic viability of existing usage agreements for wind and solar farms, and that contracting parties are feeling pressured to engage in renegotiations. Building on this, lawyer Mandus Fahje explained to the guests present the circumstances under which there is a legal entitlement to contract amendment. A statutory claim for contract amendment on the grounds of a change in the basis of the contract is generally ruled out.

In order to provide the project developers and local authority representatives present, in particular, with an overview of the conditions under which wind projects can still be successfully brought to fruition under planning law in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in accordance with the current legal framework, lawyer Dr Robert Krüger reported on the possibility of designating areas suitable for wind energy outside priority wind energy areas, as well as on the amendments to the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Local Government and Public Participation Act.

Lawyer Marie-Christine Gräfin von Spee addressed the issue of existing grid bottlenecks and presented possible solutions for overcoming them through the overbuilding and multiple use of grid connections; whilst legal hurdles must be overcome to utilise these, this approach is likely to gain in importance in future and is already being successfully practised by some project developers.

An indispensable component in avoiding grid bottlenecks is the integration of battery storage systems into energy projects. And so, to conclude the event, lawyer Dr Hänsch provided information on the legal framework governing such storage systems under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and planning law, as well as on the fundamental aspects of contract drafting within the context of legal advice.

The specialist presentations were accompanied by numerous questions and comments from the guests – a sign that the renewable energy sector remains highly dynamic.