TEORÍA DE LIDERAZGO TRANSFORMACIONAL Y TRANSACCIONAL

The EFL was changed to some degree in 1998 to become the Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz (EEG), which has been commonly translated as the “Act on Granting Priority to Renewable Energy Sources”, though it literally translates as “Renewable Energy Law”. The change in the legislation on renewables took place at the same time as the new German legislation regarding the liberalization of the German energy market (Mallon 2000). The EEG effectively acted to bring the EFL into line with the new legislation introduced to reform the energy sector. The immediate effect of the EEG was to place a cap on renewables, such that they may not supply more than 10 per cent of electricity in Germany.

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The new tariff scheme, detailed in the EEG law, was adopted in 2000. The EEG lays down pricing mechanisms for the support of a range of renewable energy technologies, with a specific pricing mechanism applied to each. It also rede- fines the regulations regarding the financial and institutional support of wind energy.

The EEG law restates the obligation on distribution network owners regarding connection of renewable energy generators to the grid where such a connection is requested. The nearest grid owners to a proposed site are obliged to connect a new generator to their grid. Whilst the generator owner is liable for the costs of connection to the grid, the bill submitted to the generator for this function is made subject to oversight by the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) to ensure that the cost is a reasonable reflection of the actual costs. The grid owner is liable for any costs relating to the upgrading of the grid to facilitate the new generator. That is, the German system uses shallow connection charging for renewable elec- tricity generation.

The EEG Act compels the grid owners to purchase electricity produced by the renewable energy generators within the pricing mechanism laid down within the Act. The new act also contains provision to address one of the most contentious aspects of the old EFL Act, establishing a national equalization scheme. The national equalization scheme makes compulsory the payment of compensation to those distribution and transmission network owners which bear above aver- age costs of paying for renewable energy sources from those which make pur- chases below the average. This removes the system set up under the EFL, whereby the costs borne by local network operators could only be passed on to their own consumers. This socialization of costs is administered by the network operators themselves, with the law enabling network operators to require each other be independently audited to assess the actual costs of purchasing renew- able electricity (Bechberger and Reiche 2004).

The EEG also changed the mechanism for calculating the base price paid for wind- generated electricity. The previous flat payment of 90 per cent of the final con- sumer tariff is replaced by initial fixed payments of €0.088/kWh for the first five years, with the potential for an extension of this period dependent on the actual performance of the turbine. Wholesale electricity prices in Germany are typically €0.02/kWh.

This has the effect of producing a scale of payment dependent on the quality of the location of the wind turbine and, it is hoped, ensuring that efficiently oper- ated turbines can be run profitably, while inefficiently run turbines can not. The effects of this may well be an increase in the number of sites that can be prof- itably operated, and, it is speculated, may act to increase the further penetration

of turbines to sites further from the coast. Regardless of when the higher payments cease, the turbines should, at least in theory, continue to be paid at a rate of €0.059/kWh for a minimum period of twenty years. Whilst the lower rate is below that paid under the old EFL mechanism, which had dropped to around €0.08/kWh by early 2000, the initial higher rate exceeds it significantly. This approach should act to provide more of a return during the early stages of turbine operation, thus aiding in obtaining capital. Turbines already in operation will also switch to the new tariff scheme, though with an amendment to reflect their status as already having received some subsidy.

The EEG also draws offshore wind projects into the payment mechanism specif- ically, placing support for offshore installations alongside onshore projects, but with the initial rate of €0.088/kWh available for the first nine years of operation. It would appear that the nearest distribution network owners to offshore instal- lations will be compelled to provide connection to the national grid, as with onshore installations (German Federal Environment Ministry, 2000). As with onshore wind, the network operators will be reimbursed for costs under the equalization provision of the EEG. The EEG is estimated to add €0.001/kWh to German electricity prices.

The results of the new law were positive and expansion of German wind energy capacity has continued up to 2004. However, the mechanism has been subject to a much-delayed review since January 2003. The result is likely to see further changes in the level of tariff paid across the board for renewably generated elec- tricity. Current proposals would see a slight drop in onshore payments, from €0.088/kWh to €0.087/kWh guaranteed for the first five years, with €0.055 thereafter instead of €0.059. Offshore wind would receive a slightly higher tar- iff of €0.091/kWh with a guaranteed availability of twelve years instead of nine provided turbines are in place by 2010. Turbines already installed are subject to the tariff in place when they were first brought online. Such guarantees are important for ensuring the security of income and to avoid discouraging new investment.

Those technologies which are currently less mature receive different rates than wind. The highest rate is currently that paid to photovoltaic generation of elec- tricity, which currently attracts compensation of €0.434/kWh. Other technolo- gies currently attract similar rates to onshore wind energy. Lindenberger and Schulz estimate that the overall costs of the EEG will rise as shown in table 1. It should be noted that these figures do not take into account the implicit cost savings relating to electricity purchase from sources which are displaced by the RE sources. Nor do they take into account any system costs and benefits associated with the operation of increased distributed generation on electric- ity networks.

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5.

OTHER MECHANISMS TO SUPPORT