BONN/BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The Federal Cartel Office continues to see negative implications for competition in the Ministry of Economic Affairs' planned Power Plant Act. 'The regulations outlined in the ministerial draft do not prevent the potential entrenchment of existing, competitively unfavorable market structures,' stated the authority in a position paper on the recently presented draft of the Electricity Supply Security and Capacity Act (StromVKG). The agency had already expressed critical views on an earlier draft.
The legislation is intended to regulate how security of electricity supply can be guaranteed in the future as part of the phased coal phase-out, particularly during so-called 'dark doldrums' when solar and wind power generation is minimal. New hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants are primarily expected to fulfill this function.
New power plants: Tenders to begin in 2026
Operators are to receive compensation for maintaining power generation capacity. Tenders for a total of eleven gigawatts of additional capacity are scheduled to begin as early as this year. Several major power generators have already announced their intention to bid. The costs for the so-called capacity market are to be financed via a new consumer levy, set to be introduced in 2031.
In a statement on a previous draft in December 2025, the Federal Cartel Office had advocated, among other things, for a capacity cap per bidder. This was proposed at ten percent of the total tendered capacity 'to ensure a diversity of providers and, in particular, to counteract any reinforcement of the market power already existing in the primary electricity sales market.' However, the Cartel Office now noted that the ministerial draft does not provide for any limit on the volume of awards per bidder.
Cartel Office sees 'favoritism toward existing power plant sites'
The authority also criticized the requirement that an existing or guaranteed grid connection must be proven at the time of bidding. 'In practice, this continues to lead to a preference for existing power plant sites.' New sites that have not yet been applied for and approved by the grid operator would have no realistic chance of receiving a grid connection commitment within the designated application period.
'This applies in particular to battery storage projects, which could fundamentally be realized by 2031 even without a prior connection commitment, as they have significantly shorter construction times compared to gas-fired power plants.' The Cartel Office identifies competitive risks here, 'as coal and former nuclear power plant sites, in particular, are owned by a limited number of power generation companies.'/tob/DP/jha
