EnergieVision

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EnergieVision e. V. is a non-profit association based in Freiburg im Breisgau . It was founded in July 2000 by the environmental foundation WWF Germany , the consumer center North Rhine-Westphalia and the Öko-Institut eV . According to the statutes, it pursues the goal of promoting consumer and environmental protection as well as market transparency in the energy industry . The association awards the eco - label ok power and operates a power tariff calculator. The operational implementation of the certification as well as the operation of the "office" of the ok-power seal have been taken care of by the Hamburg Institute since 2016 .

Ok-power product seal

The ok-power seal

The association awards the electricity seal ok-power , with which green electricity offers are certified . The aim of awarding the seal is not only to label renewable electricity from existing power sources that meet additional ecological requirements, but above all to achieve an additional expansion of renewable energy generation. Currently (as of March 2019) 74 providers and 36 green electricity products have been awarded the ok-power seal. In 2019, the certification volume is expected to be 4.1 TWh. The consumer center names the ok-power seal as one of three recommended green electricity seals of approval, alongside the green electricity label of the environmental associations and the EcoTopTen list of the Öko-Institut .

Certification criteria

Certification with the ok-power seal is carried out using a test procedure by independent experts. In this, the electricity provider must prove that he meets the required criteria. Compliance with the criteria is checked annually.

The criteria for awarding the ok-power seal are determined by the criteria advisory board of EnergieVision e. V., consisting of energy transition experts from various facilities and institutes, and checked annually for current market conditions and changes in the law. In the current version of the criteria catalog from August 2018, certification includes mandatory and optional criteria.

Mandatory criteria

The mandatory criteria must be met by all green electricity providers. They demand:

  • 100 percent of the electricity comes from renewable sources: hydropower, biomass, photovoltaics, wind power, geothermal energy, sewage gas
  • No participation of the green electricity provider in nuclear power plants, lignite power plants and new hard coal power plants
  • consumer-friendly contract terms, e.g. B. no advance payment or specification of minimum purchase quantities
  • ecological requirements for green electricity generation plants

Elective criteria

In addition to the mandatory criteria, the ok-power certification requires a contribution to accelerating the energy transition and integrating renewable energies into the supply system in addition to state funding. This is defined using compulsory elective criteria that the green electricity provider fulfills individually or in combination. They are divided into the following focus areas:

  • Funding of additional new systems: a) Procurement of guarantees of origin from new systems, b) Initiation and operation of new renewable energy systems, c) Recognition of non-approved new construction projects
  • Crediting of generation from previously subsidized existing systems
  • Promotion of innovative energy transition projects


Promotion of additional new plants

a) Procurement of guarantees of origin from new systems

To provide an incentive to expand renewable energy systems, at least 33% of the electricity must come from new systems that are not older than:

  • 4 years for wind power and biomass
  • 5 years with photovoltaics
  • 8 years in hydropower and geothermal energy.

Systems that fall under the EEG or comparable funding instruments abroad are not recognized as new systems.


b) Initiation and operation of new renewable energy systems

This criterion rewards the above-average commitment of the green electricity provider in the planning, financing and operation of renewable energy systems. For this purpose, new systems projected and / or financed by the certified provider are recognized with 100% of the planned electricity generation volume in the first four years and then up to 10 years after commissioning with 66%. This “initiation amount” must correspond to at least 50% of the amount of electricity certified according to this criterion and at least 33% of the total sales to household and small commercial customers.


c) Recognition of non-approved new construction projects

The financial commitment of a provider can also be taken into account if he is not awarded a tender for a new renewable energy building project. In this case, 4% of the planned total investment is recognized as a lump sum as project planning costs and can be spread over up to 4 years. Overall, however, this compulsory optional criterion may be used for a maximum of 50% of the total amount of certification per year. Complete certification based on this criterion alone is therefore not possible.


Crediting of generation from previously subsidized existing systems

At least 33% of the quantity certified according to this criterion must be procured with certificates of origin from wind energy plants whose funding (e.g. under the EEG or comparable funding systems abroad) has expired.


Promotion of innovative energy transition projects

This is intended to promote innovative projects and commitment to the energy transition. The aim is to contribute to the integration of renewable energies into the supply system and to make greater use of the efficiency and savings potential. The provider invests an amount of 0.2 or 0.3 cents per kilowatt hour that is sold to electricity customers in one year in an innovation fund. Priorities for the use of funds are:

  • Efficiency and savings measures
  • Innovative storage technologies
  • Virtual power plants and related software development and investment


One criterion for green electricity is the exclusion of "double marketing". To do this, it must be ensured that the green electricity can only be sold once to end customers. With the ok-power seal, as with all green electricity tariffs in Germany, this takes place either via commercial delivery with network usage agreements and network timetables or via the cancellation of guarantees of origin from the European Energy Certificate System (EECS), as these represent the only legally defined proof of green electricity .

The ok-power seal requires an annual balance of quantities, but no proof of “simultaneous supply”, as this is what EnergieVision e. V. and the Criteria Advisory Board has no supportive effect for the energy transition. Regardless of these criteria, however, all suppliers must supply all of their customers with a simultaneous feed-in. Otherwise stable network operation would not be possible.

criticism

Corporate links

Until 2016, the ok-power seal assessed the origin and ecological properties of the certified electricity product, but not the business policy of the company that sells this product. Therefore, the ok-power seal did not contain any restrictions on the operation of nuclear power plants or the use of fossil fuels by electricity suppliers or their shareholders.

This changed on January 1, 2016 as part of the fundamental revision of the certification criteria. Since then, certified green electricity providers have not been allowed to participate directly or indirectly (e.g. via subsidiaries) in nuclear power, lignite or new hard coal power plants. A nuclear or coal power plant operator is also only allowed to own a maximum of 50% of the green electricity provider. Since ok-power is a product seal, in practice it can happen that providers not only have ok-power -certified green electricity products but also conventional electricity offers in their portfolio. B. Identify nuclear power in the electricity labeling according to the German mix.

The EnergieVision eV association

Members

In 2015, the association EnergieVision eV had the following associations as association members:

  • Öko-Institut - Institute for Applied Ecology eV
  • Consumer advice center NRW eV

The consumer center NRW eV ended its membership at the end of 2015. The 2015 activity report writes that it "wants to act more as an" independent market watchdog "in the future, without taking a direct position through membership in a certification body." To this end, the non-profit HIR Hamburg Institut Research gGmbH (Hamburg Institute) joined the sponsorship in January 2016 . In 2016, the Hamburg Institute took over the operational implementation of the certification as well as the operation of the ok-power seal office.

sales

The annual report shows 2017 income of 545,677 euros and expenses of 440,784 euros. The income comes mainly from certification proceeds.

The volume of the ok-power certified current over time:

ok-power-certified amount of electricity over time
year TWh
2002
  
0.1
2003
  
0.3
2004
  
0.5
2005
  
0.6
2006
  
0.6
2007
  
1.0
2008
  
3.2
2009
  
3.9
2010
  
4.3
2011
  
5
2012
  
6.3
2013
  
6.6
2014
  
6.3
2015
  
3.9
2016
  
3.8
Data source: Activity report EnergieVision eV 2017.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Hamburg Institute takes over the operation of the ok-power label's office. ( Memento from October 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) News entry on the ok-power.de website (accessed March 6, 2016).
  2. a b ok-power.de
  3. ↑ Interesting facts about green electricity. ( Memento of March 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on March 7, 2016)
  4. EnergieVision: the non-profit association behind the ok-power seal. Retrieved April 14, 2019 .
  5. Criteria catalog version 9.1. (PDF) Retrieved August 20, 2018 .
  6. Criteria for the seal of approval.
  7. a b Activity Report 2017. (PDF) Retrieved June 2018 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 58 ′ 24.4 ″  N , 7 ° 49 ′ 42.6 ″  E