Skip to content
You can now search across every topic, entity and event.What's new
StromVKG
LegislationDE

StromVKG

Germany's capacity-payment law funding dispatchable gas plants via competitive Bundesnetzagentur-run auctions.

StromVKG's first 4.5 GW capacity auction opened on 21 July 2026 with bids due 8 September, proceeding without the European Commission state-aid clearance Bundesnetzagentur still listed as outstanding.

Last refreshed: 31 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic

Key Question

Will the Südbonus survive the 9 July Bundestag plenary, or does StromVKG pass clean?

Timeline for StromVKG

#31 29 Jul

Mentioned in: ACER issues first EU-wide cost dataset

European Energy Markets
#31 29 Jul

Mentioned in: CRE lets grids buy local flexibility

European Energy Markets
#30 26 Jul

Mentioned in: German spark spread hits cycle worst

European Energy Markets
#29 21 Jul

Germany bids capacity into a legal gap

European Energy Markets
#28 9 Jul

Berlin's 9 GW auctions await Brussels

European Energy Markets
View full timeline →
Follow European Energy Markets →

Background

The Stromversorgungskostensenkungsgesetz (StromVKG) is Germany's statutory framework for capacity payments to gas-fired power plants. It creates a revenue floor for operators that keep dispatchable generation on standby even when wholesale prices make running uneconomical, aiming to prevent stranded-asset closures of the gas fleet ahead of sufficient firm-capacity alternatives.

The law funds 9 GW of dispatchable gas capacity across two 4.5 GW auction tranches within its 2026 programme, at a cost approaching EUR 3bn a year from 2031. Bundesnetzagentur administers the auction process; European Commission state-aid clearance for the scheme is a precondition industry and regulators track separately from the domestic legislative timetable. StromVKG is a distinct measure from the older Kraftwerksstrategie, Germany's separate 10 GW hydrogen-capable plant programme targeted at 2032.

Its passage exposed a live domestic fault line: a south-Germany siting premium, the Suedbonus, was contested by trade unions as structurally unjustified toward eastern operators, while the Greens pushed unsuccessfully for binding hydrogen-conversion conditions on winning bidders.

Key Issues
Capacity-payment law

Auction opens without state-aid clearance

StromVKG passed its second and third Bundestag readings on 9 July, having cleared cabinet on 8 June and committee stage on 24 June with the 1 September first-auction date intact. The final text set its own bid ceiling at EUR 244,000/MW, a 41% lift written in during committee to keep the tranche from under-clearing, and split bidding one-third north and two-thirds south.

Bundesnetzagentur, which runs the auctions, still listed European Commission state-aid approval for the two 4.5 GW tranches of the 9 GW 2026 programme as outstanding on its own StromVKG page, last revised 10 July. It opened bidding on the first 4.5 GW tranche on 21 July regardless, with bids due 8 September, ahead of a clearance the scheme still needs.

Common Questions

Law passes final legislative vote

What is the Südbonus in the German capacity market?
Resolved. The Bundestag passed the final StromVKG text on 9 July 2026 retaining a locational premium, in the form of a one-third-north/two-thirds-south split, rather than dropping the mechanism DGB had objected to at the 24 June hearing.Source: Bundestag Wirtschaftsausschuss, 24 June 2026
When is the Bundestag voting on StromVKG?
Resolved. The Bundestag passed StromVKG's second and third plenary readings on 9 July 2026. The final text raised the capacity-auction bid ceiling 41% to EUR 244,000/MW, added a one-third-north/two-thirds-south locational split, and lowered barriers for battery-storage bidders, passing with CDU/CSU and SPD votes against AfD, the Greens and the Left.Source: Bundestag Wirtschaftsausschuss
When will Germany's gas-plant capacity auctions start?
Resolved. Bundesnetzagentur opened the first of two 4.5 GW auction tranches on 21 July 2026, part of the 9 GW 2026 programme within the law's 11 GW total hydrogen-ready capacity target passed by the Bundestag on 9 July. Bids for that first tranche are due 8 September 2026; European Commission state-aid clearance had still not been granted when the auction opened.Source: Lowdown desk analysis

Law passes final legislative vote

What is the StromVKG and what does it pay gas plants for?
StromVKG (Stromversorgungskostensenkungsgesetz) is Germany's capacity-payment law, approved by cabinet on 8 June 2026. It pays gas-fired power plants a revenue floor to stay available as dispatchable backup, even when wholesale prices make running unprofitable. The first round covers 11 GW, with auctions opening 8 September 2026.Source: Event: Berlin cabinet clears gas-plant subsidy law
Why does Germany need capacity payments for gas plants?
German clean spark spreads have been negative for much of 2026, meaning gas plants lose money when running. Without a revenue floor, operators would close plant the grid depends on to balance wind and solar intermittency. On 30 June 2026, German day-ahead hit EUR 195/MWh on near-zero wind, showing what happens when thermal backup is absent.Source: event
Does StromVKG require EU state-aid clearance?
Yes. Any national capacity mechanism requires European Commission notification under EU state-aid rules. The German design restricts eligibility to plants that can ramp within 15 minutes, which narrows the subsidy scope and is intended to support clearance, but formal approval is still pending.Source: EU state-aid framework for capacity mechanisms
Did Brussels approve Germany's gas-plant capacity auctions before they opened?
No. Bundesnetzagentur opened the first 4.5 GW StromVKG auction on 21 July 2026 without European Commission state-aid clearance and without formally consulting Brussels first, even though the Commission's approval requirement for national capacity mechanisms was already flagged as unresolved on the auction page as of 10 July.Source: Lowdown desk analysis
Source Material
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action