{"id":158300,"date":"2026-09-03T06:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T06:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/158300\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T06:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T06:28:14","slug":"brussels-clears-germanys-capacity-mechanism-worth-up-to-e35-2-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/158300\/","title":{"rendered":"Brussels clears Germany\u2019s capacity mechanism worth up to \u20ac35.2 billion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European Commission has approved Germany\u2019s capacity mechanism under EU State aid rules, with an estimated total cost of between \u20ac15.6 billion and \u20ac35.2 billion. The scheme is designed to ensure security of electricity supply as demand evolves and will be available from 2031.<\/p>\n

The mechanism will be technology-neutral, allowing participation from power generation, energy storage and demand response. Both existing and new capacity will be eligible, while cross-border capacity will also be allowed in the subsequent auctions.<\/p>\n

Contracts will run for up to 15 years, with capacity selected through competitive auctions based on Germany\u2019s reliability standard, which was established following the European Resource Adequacy Assessment 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First auctions to be held in 2026<\/p>\n

Although supported capacity will begin delivering from 2031, the first auctions will be organised in 2026<\/a>, with an additional auction possible in 2027 if there is insufficient participation.<\/p>\n

These initial auctions will be reserved for additional long-term capacity located in Germany. Subsequent auctions, scheduled for 2027 and 2029, will be open to all technologies and to both existing and additional capacity.<\/p>\n

The mechanism is estimated to cost between \u20ac1 billion and \u20ac3 billion in 2031, depending on the auction results. From 2032 to 2045, annual costs are expected to range between \u20ac0.9 billion and \u20ac2.3 billion.<\/p>\n

Long-term contracts linked to decarbonisation<\/p>\n

The mechanism approved by Brussels also includes climate-related conditions. All supported capacity receiving 15-year contracts will be required to operate in a climate-neutral manner by 2045 at the latest.<\/p>\n

New gas-fired power plants seeking a 15-year capacity contract will have to be hydrogen-ready, allowing them to switch to hydrogen in the future.<\/p>\n

Germany also plans separate decarbonisation tenders to accelerate the conversion of part of its gas-fired capacity to hydrogen. The country intends to support the switch of 2 GW of gas-fired capacity to hydrogen by 2040, with tenders to be carried out by the end of 2027. A further 2 GW is planned to switch by 2043, with tenders scheduled between 2032 and 2035.<\/p>\n

However, this hydrogen conversion support is not covered by today\u2019s Commission decision and will have to be notified and assessed separately.<\/p>\n

Separate from Germany\u2019s future structural capacity mechanism<\/p>\n

The Commission also notes that Germany plans to introduce a structural capacity mechanism in 2027, aimed at addressing the country\u2019s security-of-supply needs more extensively from 2032 onwards.<\/p>\n

That future mechanism will have a separate budget and is not covered by today\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

The Commission concluded that the approved mechanism is necessary and proportionate to ensure security of electricity supply. It also considers that the competitive, transparent and non-discriminatory auction design limits its impact on competition and trade within the EU.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The European Commission has approved Germany\u2019s capacity mechanism under EU State aid rules, with an estimated total cost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[104],"tags":[211,210,6383,6380,6378,6382,6376,6379,6377,6381,6374,6375],"class_list":["post-158300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brussels","tag-belgium","tag-brussels","tag-cambio-climatico","tag-energia-eolica","tag-energia-fotovoltaica","tag-energia-hidroelectrica","tag-energia-renovable","tag-energia-solar","tag-energias-limpias","tag-movilidad-electrica","tag-revista-digital","tag-revista-energia-renovable"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117205696838235048","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}