Waiting list for compensatory feed-in remuneration

The subsidisation fund for green electricity has run dry. There have been so many registrations for compensatory feed-in remuneration (CRF) since May 2008 that the total cost ceiling for CRF has been reached. Therefore, from 1 February 2009 all new registrations from electricity production plants using hydropower (up to 10 megawatts), photovoltaic power, wind power, geothermal power, biomass and biomass waste will be put on a waiting list.

The 2008 annual add-on quota for new photovoltaic plants had already been reached by the first day of registration (1 May 2008). The Swiss Federal Office of Energy therefore declared a moratorium on decisions which has meant that more than 3,000 registered photovoltaic plants have had to be placed on a waiting list since this date.

The SFOE's 2009 annual add-on quota of 5 megawatts (MW) for photovoltaic plants was reached before 1 February 2009. The first seven plants on the waiting list with a capacity of 1000 kW to 500 kW have already been able to take advantage of this quota.

Current waiting list (PDF / 27kB)

When can producers be taken off the waiting list?

The waiting list is ordered in accordance with the eligibility requirements of the Energy Ordinance, i.e. firstly by the date of the postmark and then in descending order of the capacity of the plant.

All projects on the waiting list will remain there until there is a free space or the funding level for CRF is increased. This would however require a corresponding change in the law.

• Plants that have received a positive decision must submit a project progress report and notification of commissioning within the time period specified by the Energy Ordinance. If one of the deadlines cannot be complied with, plants may lose their eligibility for funding and projects that are ready to be implemented or have already been implemented will take their place.
  
• CRF is financed by the surcharge for electricity costs (currently 0.45 cents/kWh), which must be limited to a maximum of 0.6 cents/kWh for consumers in accordance with the Energy Act. Projects were however approved as if the maximum possible surcharge of 0.6 cents/kWh was already being charged. Additional projects could therefore only be approved if the surcharge could be increased to above the legal limit of 0.6 cents/kWh.
  Parliament is currently discussing whether the surcharge limit should be increased.

Are producers always removed from the waiting list in order?

Until 1 February 2009, only photovoltaic plants were placed on the waiting list because the annual add-on quota for 2008 and 2009 had already been reached. Photovoltaic plants therefore occupy around the first 3,300 places on the waiting list. All other technologies have however been placed on the waiting list since 1 February.

But this doesn’t automatically mean that the 3,300 or so photovoltaic plants would be the first to be considered should funding again be available for CRF.

Procedure for removal from the waiting list

When funding is available again, the SFOE will specify a new add-on quota in accordance with the legal requirements for photovoltaic energy (the existing add-on quota is around 5 MW). Once this additional add-on quota has also been reached, the other technologies could be considered (those on the waiting list after 1 February 2009).

Further information

Information on the waiting list of registered plants (PDF / 117kB)