A draft version of a bill from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (the so-called Network Package) proposes adjustments to the legal framework for the entitlement to financial compensation in cases of redispatch measures.
According to the draft bill, distribution network operators are to be entitled to designate certain network areas as ‘network areas with limited capacity’ for up to 10 years if the technically possible electricity feed-in from connected installations was adjusted by more than 3% in total in the previous year.
In such network areas, the entitlement to network connection for renewable energy projects is to be restricted. A correspondent obligation for network operators shall only exist if the project developers waive their claims for financial redispatch compensation (known as redispatch proviso).
Raue, on behalf of the Bundesverband WindEnergie e.V., has examined the EU law compliance of such a legislative amendment and has concluded that a redispatch proviso would contradict the provisions of the Electricity Market Directive and the Electricity Market Regulation:
- The intended restriction of access to the network is not based on objective criteria. Redispatch measures are often caused by network congestions in other parts of the grid (especially in the transmission network). Moreover, network congestion is often only temporary.
- The strict substantive and procedural requirements for refusing network access are not met; blanket designations of supposed ‘network areas with limited capacity’ do not replace a specific and case-related justification for refusing network access.
- Provisions tailored to dealing with capacity constraints (especially flexible network connection contracts) are undermined.
- The exclusion of claims to financial compensation for redispatch measures requires a voluntary decision of the project developer; this requirement is not met in the case of a mandatory legal regulation.
(18 February 2026)