Interruptible Loads Ordinance

The present Ordinance implements the Energy Industry Act (BGBl. I S. 1970, 3621). In particular, the Ordinance is based on “Contractual agreements concerning interruptible loads”. For the purpose of the Ordinance “interruptible loads” are defined as “large consumer facilities connected to the high voltage and extra-high voltage grids that consume large amounts of electricity almost 24 hours a day and that are able to reduce consumption due to the nature of the production process at short notice”.
Pursuant to the Ordinance, large electricity consumers shall shed loads shed loads in cases of bottlenecks, thus stabilising the grids. In return they shall receive a compensation that is passed on to electricity consumers. The Ordinance provides that transmission system operators hold monthly tenders for interruptible loads of 3,000 MW in total and conclude the respective agreements (cf. Sections 1 and 8). According to article 4 , paragraphs 1 to 3 of the Ordinance, the compensation for interruptible loads consists of a compensation paid for the readiness of the consumer to reduce consumption during a given period (service fee) and the consumption paid in case consumption has to be actually reduced (utilisation fee). The monthly service fee is Euro 1,667/MW. The utilisation fee may not be less than Euro 100 but must not exceed Euro 500 per MW. The text consists of 19 articles.