Fokussierte Kapazitätsmärkte - LBD-Beratungsgesellschaft mbH

Öko-Institut / LBD / RAUE LLP Fokussierte Kapazitätsmärkte
Ideally a capacity market for Germany will be implemented within the scope of the integrated
electricity market in Continental Europe. However, the institutional allocation of
responsibilities in the current regulatory framework means that this cannot occur
straightforwardly. Security of supply and therefore also the implementation of capacity
markets has been the responsibility of national authorities up to now. A coordinated
initiative of the countries of the Pentalateral Energy Forum (Germany, France, Belgium,
the Netherlands, Luxembourg and from 2011 Austria as well) would be preferable, by
means of which a model of this kind is implemented based on respective agreements,
without making it necessary to create a uniform EU-wide regulation. However, this approach
is faced with the problem that several neighbouring countries of Germany are
already significantly further advanced in their discussion and implementation of capacity
markets, which makes harmonisation substantially difficult. Nevertheless a consultative
vote on the target levels for the capacity tenders necessary for the capacity market
is useful and advisable.
A focused capacity market for Germany could be introduced comparably quickly. If the
regulations enter into force within the course of 2014 and the sub-statutory and other
regulations are introduced by 2015, the first auctions for power plant capacities could
take place in 2015/2016. From 2017 onwards the first incumbent power plants and demand-side
measures would be remunerated and ensured by capacity payments. From
2019/2020 the first new power plants could enter operation and the last two stages of
the phase-out of nuclear energy (2021/2022) thereby substantially flanked.
The focused capacity market constitutes a pragmatic and, compared to the models of a
comprehensive capacity market and a strategic reserve discussed up to now, a very
advantageous instrument for tackling the current and foreseeable challenges with regard
to security of supply. At the same time a focused capacity market can make a
substantial contribution to flanking the transformation of the energy system to one
based on renewable energies and maintaining a high intensity of competition in the
electricity market while substantially limiting the costs for electricity consumers.
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