Compensatory feed-in remuneration: Important information on the registration process
Bern, 17.04.2008 - From 2009 a compensatory feed-in remuneration will be granted for electricity which is produced from renewable energies and fed into the Swiss electricity grid. Producers of renewable electricity from hydro power (up to 10 Megawatts), photovoltaic energy, wind power, geothermal power and biomass energy can register their facilities for the compensatory feed-in remuneration from May 2008. The Federal Office of Energy has now defined the details of the registration process. In addition, the annual quota for photovoltaic energy has been set.
The revised Energy Act contains a package of measures aimed at promoting renewable energies and energy efficiency, the mainstay of which is the compensatory feed-in remuneration scheme for electricity generated from renewable energies. The revised Energy Ordinance approved by the Federal Council in mid-March 2008 lays down the principles governing compensatory feed-in remuneration, the documents to be submitted for registration, and the compensation rates (cents per Kilowatt hour) for the various types of facility.
A surcharge of up to 0.6 cents per Kilowatt hour will be levied on high-voltage grid transmission costs from 1 January 2009, in order to fund the compensatory feed-in remuneration. This will bring in up to CHF 320 million per year.
Registration process
- Facilities can register from May 2008 with the Swiss national grid company swissgrid ag. Since 1 May 2008 is a public holiday (Ascension), registrations with a postmark date of 2 May 2008 will be treated in the same way as those with a postmark dated 1 May 2008. Registrations submitted before 1 May 2008 (date of postmark) will be returned by swissgrid unprocessed.
- Facilities wishing to register must complete the official registration form, which will be available from 1 May 2008 on the swissgrid website (www.swissgrid.ch). The registration form can be filled in online. The form must then be printed out and signed by the applicant, as well as the authorisation form for the owner of the land or building if the facility is operated under contract. Registration forms can also be ordered from the swissgrid Customer Competence Centre (Tel. 0848 014 014). swissgrid will publish guidelines on the registration process on its website on 28 April 2008.
- If for any reason the registration form cannot be signed in person by the applicant (e.g. if the manufacturer or installer of the plant complete the form on behalf of its customer), the customer (applicant) can sign a power of attorney in advance, confirming that the registration is being made on his behalf. This power of attorney, with original signatures, must be enclosed along with the other documents to be submitted. The power of attorney form and the approval form for the land or building owner are available now for downloading in PDF format from the swissgrid website.
- The printed and signed registration form, accompanied if applicable by the power of attorney, must be sent by post to swissgrid together with all other documents (as defined in the registration guidelines). Address: swissgrid ag, Werkstrasse 12, 5080 Laufenburg
- swissgrid will inform the applicant whether it has decided to accept the project or put it on the waiting list. Projects are considered for compensatory feed-in remuneration on the basis of the date on which the full, accurate application for registration was sent (postmark). If the number of applications received on the same day (postmark date) exceeds the partial or full cap defined for the compensatory feed-in remuneration, large facilities will be accorded priority over small facilities. Projects which cannot be accommodated under the cap will be put on a waiting list.
- A project progress report and notification of commissioning must be sent to swissgrid within the deadlines defined in the Annexes to the Energy Ordinance following registration. Failure to observe these deadlines will result in the national grid company revoking its decision and granting the place to another project. The decision is also revoked if the information on capacity and location provided in the notification of commissioning deviates significantly from the information provided at the time of registration.
- The feed-in remuneration will be granted for energy produced from 1 January 2009.
Add-on quota for photovoltaic facilities
Under the terms of the revised Energy Ordinance (Art. 3f), the Federal Office of Energy is required to define an annual quota for add-ons to photovoltaic facilities based on the cost trend. The aim of defining such a quote each year is to ensure ongoing upgrades.
Facilities with a commissioning date from 1.1.2006: For the initial compensatory feed-in remuneration phase, the SFOE has defined a special quota for upgrades of facilities which went into operation between 1 January 2006 and 30 April 2008 or which already meet the conditions governing progress reports (construction permit granted and connection application approved by grid operator). This quota will provisionally amount to 10 MWp and should be sufficient to accommodate all facilities.
New facilities: The annual quota for 2008 for other new facilities is 4 MWp.
Contact for registration queries:
swissgrid ag: swissgrid Customer Competence Centre, Tel 0848 014 014
Before contacting the Customer Competence Centre, please read the FAQ on the SFOE website
Address for enquiries
Additional sources of information:
SFOE: Regula Petersen, SFOE Renewable Energies Section, Tel 031 322 56 54
Photovoltaic energy: Swissolar, www.swissolar.ch
Biomass, wood: Holzenergie Schweiz, www.holzenergie.ch
Biomass: BiomassEnergie, www.biomasseenergie.ch
Wind power: Suisse Eole, www.wind-energie.ch, www.suisse-eole.ch
Geothermal power: Géothermie.ch, www.geothermie.ch
Hydro power: Entec AG, www.entec.ch
Sewage gas, waste incineration plants, drinking water power plants: SwissEnergy for infrastructure plants, www.infrastrukturanlagen.ch
Media contact: Marianne Zünd, Head of Communication SFOE, Tel 031 322 56 75
Publisher
Swiss Federal Office of Energy
http://www.bfe.admin.ch
