EUU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (2. samling) - Bilag 134: Notat og høringssvar vedr. evaluering af statsstøtteretningslinjerne om miljøbeskyttelse og energi

Europaudvalget 2018-19 (2. samling)
EUU Alm.del Bilag 134
Offentligt

Evaluation of the guidelines on State aid for Environmental protection and

Energy 2014-2020

Date

29. august 2019

The Danish Government welcomes the opportunity to comment on the evaluation

of the Guidelines on State aid for Environmental protection and Energy 2014-2020

(EEAG).

The Danish Government finds that the EEAG has played and continuously plays an

important role, not only in relation to the regulation of the internal market, but also

in relation to fulfil and meet EU’s energy and climate targets and objectives for

2020 and 2030.

The Danish Government has no objections to the proposed extension of the EEAG

to 2022. It is, however, important that the evaluation of the EEAG takes into con-

sideration that more ambitious energy and climate targets for 2030 have been

adopted and that “new elements” have been introduced in the newly adopted sector

legislation implementing the 2030 targets. The Danish Government also finds it

important that the evaluation looks into how the EEAG and the supplementing arti-

cles in the GDPR can be revised in order to make them as future proof as possible

and in order to align them with the

Commission’s vision for a

climate-neutral Eu-

rope in 2050.

The current EEAG

Denmark is of the opinion that the key principle of the EEAG concerning aid for

energy from renewable sources should be maintained, thus establishing that aid as

a main rule only can be granted

in a competitive bidding process on the basis of clear,

transparent and non-discriminatory criteria, unless certain explicitly described circum-

stances are in place, cf. article 126. Technology-neutral bidding processes are future

proof and key in the green transition of the energy sector. The existing option to limit a

bidding process to specific technologies should only be maintained as long as an open

process which includes all technologies would lead to a suboptimal result.

Alignment with the revised Renewable Energy Directive

With the newly revised Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001/EU) which enters

into force in 2021 the legislation concerning renewable energy has been brought up

to date, and a number of new requirements to renewable energy technologies,

criteria etc. have now been included in the EU legislation. This “modernisation” of

the directive can raise questions whether the EEAG and GBER still are satisfactory

aligned with the rules on renewable energy.

Denmark therefore urges the Commission to align the legislation accordingly. The

Danish Authorities have identified some elements which would be relevant to elab-

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EUU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (2. samling) - Bilag 134: Notat og høringssvar vedr. evaluering af statsstøtteretningslinjerne om miljøbeskyttelse og energi

orate further on in the context of the revision of the EEAG and the elements in

GBER.



The sustainable criteria:

Denmark would appreciate further guidance on possi-

ble connections between the sustainability criteria in the Renewable Energy Di-

rective and state aid regulation. There is a need to clarify whether it will be pos-

sible for Member States to make use of additional national sustainability criteria

for e.g. biomass and biogas used for electricity, heating and cooling, industrial

purposes, upgrading for injection in gas grid, and link the compliance of the na-

tional sustainability criteria to existing aid schemes.

Guarantees of origin:

The extensive use of guarantees of origin in the Renewa-

ble Energy Directive raises questions about how to implement these in connec-

tion with state aid regulations.

Biofuels:

The current scope and definitions in the guidelines should be consid-

ered in order to accommodate e.g. renewable liquid and gaseous transport

fuels of non-biological origin and recycled carbon fuels. In connection with

these fuels it should be considered to include not only production, but also con-

version of energy. In general it is from a Danish point of view still necessary, to

carry on the absolute ban on aid for food-based biofuels, which enters into

force from 2021, but when it comes to supporting the use of instruments as

CO2 taxes which have shown to be a valuable supplement to reach the

EU’s

renewables energy targets for the transport sector, the rules should be made

more flexible, e.g. by, to a larger extent, allowing for aid for biofuels covered by

a supply or blending obligation.



Future proof guidelines

The speed at which technologies develop underlines the need to try to future proof

and include further technologies, not only in the EEAG, but also in the GBER, as

the time factor is very important in relation to the development of new schemes.

The prolongation of the validity period of the current state aid regulations further

underlines these issues. Denmark would in this respect especially highlight the

following:



It is for the moment e.g. not clear whether it would be possible to link the com-

pletion of energy saving measures to aid schemes, thus making the right to aid

dependent on achievement of the target for energy savings. All Parties in the

Danish Parliament have for example in 2018 agreed upon an energy agree-

ment with ambitious goals and initiatives for the green transition which includes

wishes to implement aid schemes that have a high degree of additionality. In

relation to this the completion of energy saving measures to aid schemes has

popped up and the issue that this could be seen as a possible conflict with the

EEAG concerning aid intensity and eligible costs. These initiatives are planned

to be a part of the Danish effort to comply with the energy savings obligations

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EUU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (2. samling) - Bilag 134: Notat og høringssvar vedr. evaluering af statsstøtteretningslinjerne om miljøbeskyttelse og energi

of the Energy Efficiency Directive, article 7. Clarification on this point would

therefore be highly useful.



The use of converted fuels such as hydrogen makes storage of electricity on a

large scale possible. The possibility of aid to this type of storage in the EEAG

and GBER would therefore be very valuable. Also, more flexible possibilities for

aid to schemes that combine technologies from different sectors, e.g. conver-

sion of electricity from solar and wind power to heating with heat pumps, are

important for the Member States in relation to fulfil the green transition.

The GBER is a very useful instrument to designing and implementing aid

schemes within a reasonable time frame. In order to make the regulation even

more applicable to the needs of the green transition it would be useful to sup-

plement the current regulation with possibilities that can accommodate new

technological developments even better. The possibility of higher aid intensity

to micro and small companies

–

including marketing expenses

–

would be high-

ly relevant in order to support the development of innovative energy technolo-

gy. Furthermore, it should be considered to raise the notification thresholds in

order to alleviate administrative burdens.

Furthermore, in relation to renewable energy resources, an extension of the

scope of the EEAG and GBER to include aid to repowering projects would be

appreciated, as repowering of existing renewable energy projects are becoming

relevant in the near future. In this context it would be relevant, among other

things, to elaborate on the definition of the start of the works.



Clarification of obligations and simplification

Several experiences concerning the use and implementation of the existing guide-

lines and the GBER have now been obtained. In this context the Danish authorities

have come across some issues that seen from a Danish point of view could be

relevant to get further guidance on or could be relevant to look further into from a

simplification perspective. The relevant issues are the following:



With regards to the general conditions for incentive effect in both the EEAG and

the GBER, further guidance on the interpretation of the minimum requirements

for application forms for aid would be appreciated. This request follows from

e.g. a situation where the authorities lay down the precise eligible costs for an

aid scheme. In that situation it can be irrelevant to demand this information

from applicants.

In relation to renewable energy Denmark would also welcome guidance in rela-

tion to renewable energy demonstration projects. In the development of, for ex-

ample, the future wind turbines it can be relevant to carry out demonstration

projects on existing wind turbines. However, this can conflict with the definition



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EUU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (2. samling) - Bilag 134: Notat og høringssvar vedr. evaluering af statsstøtteretningslinjerne om miljøbeskyttelse og energi

of the start of the works, and thus guidance on this subject would be appreciat-

ed.



A number of Danish power plants coproduce heat and electricity. Although

there are aid schemes existing for e.g. the use of biomass in these plants the

guidelines could be more operational for these types of plants requiring a rela-

tively small primary investment, but recurring secondary investments in order to

extend the period of operation.

With the large number of current schemes regarding energy efficiency it is the

experience of the Danish authorities that some requirements of the GBER re-

quire extensive resources to complete, implement and supervise. The compila-

tion of counterfactual scenarios is a good example of this, along with the effort

to ensure that aid recipients are not overcompensated. A simplification of such

requirements would relieve the administrative burdens significantly.



Concluding remarks

In conclusion, the Danish Government finds it to be of the greatest importance that

the EEAG and GBER make room for new technologies and provisions to develop.

Denmark would welcome the opportunity to elaborate on the comments and sug-

gestions above, should the European Commission find it relevant.

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