Sissetulev kiri

Dear Sir or Madam,

We would kindly like to ask you whether any specific regulations have been adopted in your country when implementing an EU directive.

Specifically, our concern regards the following:

The matter concerns Directive 2019/944 (Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU) - hereinafter: "Directive". Art. 66 of the Directive provides for exemptions from grid operator obligations. These exemptions exist for "Community energy initiatives", "Closed distribution systems", "Small connected systems" and "Small isolated systems" as well as "Direct lines".

Germany has implemented this directive in the "Energiewirtschaftsgesetz (EnWG)" (english: Energy Industry Act), among other things. As part of this transposition, Germany has introduced a further exemption in addition to the exemptions provided for in Art. 66 of the Directive: Section 3 No. 24a EnWG regulates a further exemption from the grid operator obligations for so-called "Kundenanlage" (english: customer system). Such an exemption is not provided for in the Directive.

"Kundenanlage" pursuant to Section 3 No. 24a EnWG is

"an energy installation for the supply of energy,

a) which is located in a spatially contiguous area or to which installations pursuant to section 3 no. 1 of the " Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes (ENG) (english: "Renewable Energy Sources Act") are connected by a direct line pursuant to section 3 no. 12 with a maximum line length of 5,000 meters and a nominal voltage of 10 to including 40 kilovolts,

b) are connected to an energy supply grid or to a generation facility,

c) are insignificant for ensuring effective and undistorted competition in the supply of electricity and gas, and

d) are made available to anyone free of charge and without discrimination for the purpose of supplying the connected end consumers by way of transmission, irrespective of the choice of energy supplier."

(no official translation).

"Kundenanlage" is therefore an energy supply facility that serves to supply end consumers. The operator is not the exclusive supplier, and customers are free to choose their energy supplier. It is separated from the public grid and is often recorded by a summation meter.

The ECJ reviewed the conformity of a "Kundenanlage" with the Directive as part of a preliminary ruling procedure (Art. 267 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)). As part of this preliminary ruling procedure, the ECJ ruled in Case C-293/23 (28.11.2024) that Section 3 No. 24a EnWG ("Kundenanlage") is in breach of the Directive.

An exemption as the "Kundenanlage" is important in Germany, as such installations supply many businesses and households. As a result of this ruling by the ECJ, the German legislator will amend Section 3 No. 24a EnWG.

To create a harmonized internal market, We would like to ask you for information on how the directive has been implemented in your country.

1) Does your country have a similar exemption from grid operator obligations as provided for in Section 3 No. 24a EnWG for "Kundenanlage"?

2) If so, how exactly is this structured?

3) In this case, would it be possible for you to send us an English version of the specific regulation?

We look forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance.

Kind regards from Brussels

D. Pesin and S. Kommnick