Carbon Leakage
Carbon leakage generally refers to the relocation of production processes, and thus also CO2 emissions, abroad due to competitive disadvantages. To prevent such a relocation, there are relief options for companies under certain conditions according to the BECV and the electricity price compensation.
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Since January 01, 2021, the Fuel Emissions Trading Act (BEHG), which was enacted as part of the German government's climate protection package, has been in effect in Germany. Since then, the distributors of the energy carriers, which are subject to the BEHG, must acquire emission certificates. The distributors then pass on the additional costs to their customers, and thereby also increase companies' energy costs.
To protect the competitiveness of energy-intensive companies, the so-called Carbon Leakage Regulation (BECV) came into force on 03 August 2021. According to this regulation, companies that belong to one of the economic sectors on the sector list of the BECV (see here) can claim partial relief from the additional costs, that arise with the BEHG.
Electricity customers pay indirect CO2 costs, as electricity producers pass on the cost of emission allowances to their customers through the price of electricity. On average, 0.4 t/CO2 are emitted per MWh of electricity. Depending on the certificate price, this corresponds to indirect additional costs of 9-35 €/MWh.
To maintain the competitiveness of companies compared to those with locations outside the spatial scope of the EU Emissions Trading Directive, electricity costs for electricity-intensive production processes can be compensated in some economic sectors and subsectors.
To estimate your potential relief amount under the BECV, use our BECV Calculator.