On 18 January 2019, the Leipzig Regional Court ruled that the allocation of concession for the electricity and gas grid to Stadtwerke Stollberg was not legitimate. In particular, the Court found that there had been a breach of the principle of transparency since access to the file was not sufficiently caused by the lack of explanation of the blackening of the file. In addition, irrelevant criteria were used in the selection, as non-binding supplementary offers for cooperation for the operation of the networks were requested so that there was a violation of the prohibition of discrimination. (LG Leipzig, judgment of 18. 01. 2019 - file no. : 5 O 2411/18)

In its decision of 5th September 2018, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) of Düsseldorf has determined the requirements for a citizen energy company and for the permissible form of the management authority in a GmbH & Co. KG in concrete terms. Accordingly, the authority of the management of a civil energy partnership to decide on the amount of the bids to be submitted, to increase limited partnership contributions or to accept limited partners does not lead to an erosion of the voting rights of the shareholders of a civil energy partnership contrary to the purpose of § 36g EEG 2017. (OLG Düsseldorf, Decision of 05.09.2018 - Case No.: 3 Kart 80/17 (V))

In its decision of 26. 09. 2018, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm confirmed that the evidence required for claiming financial support for the modernization of a hydropower plant in the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) must already have been provided in the pre-trial phase. The purpose of the possible verification by an expert under the EEG is to enable the grid operator to determine whether the requirements have been met. If this is not possible due to a lack of information in the expert opinion, it can no longer be done in court proceedings, as otherwise the cost risk would be shifted to the network operator. (OLG Hamm, Decision of 26th September 2018 - Case No.: 30 U 4/18)

In its decision of 30 October 2018, the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court ordered the partial repetition of an award procedure for a strategic partnership in order to participate in the award of a license for the respective local electricity networks, as one of the advisors in the award procedure was in a conflict of interest. At the same time, the consultant had advised the two cities on energy management and also supported the parent company of the successful bidders in court proceedings, which were conducted simultaneously. According to § 5 of the Licensing Ordinance, a conflict of interests already exists if there is a possibility that impartiality may be impaired. (OLG Karlsruhe, Dec. of 30 October 2018 - File No.: 15 Verg. 5/18)

A bidder's urgent application for the award of the Berlin electricity grid was unsuccessful also at the appeal stage. The Berlin Appellate Court does not see any legally significant reasons for stopping the proceedings, which are at the stage prior to the selection of the future network operator, at the present time. It cannot determine to what extent the requirements formulated by the Land of Berlin regarding the suitability of bidders at the current stage of the procedure violate the principle of non-discrimination or the requirement of transparency.(KG Berlin, Decision of 25th October 2018 - Case number: 2 U 18/18 EnwG)

The 27th Wind Energy Days from 6th to 8th November 2018 in Linstow are just around the corner and we look forward to presenting and discussing the following topics with you at Forum 5 "Future & Law" on 6th November between 17:00 and 19:00: 17:00 Uhr: "Das EU-Winterpaket – was kommt da auf uns zu?“ – RA Dr. Florian Brahms 17:20 Uhr „Windenergie bis 750 kW – welche Vermarktungsmöglichkeiten ergeben sich?“ – RA Matti Hauer 17:45 Uhr „Anlagenzusammenfassung und negative Strompreise im EEG.“ – RA Dr. Florian Brahms 18:10 Uhr „Datenschutzgrundverordnung – erste Erfahrungen und Urteile“ – RA Matti Hauer 18:30 Uhr „Blockchain & Windenergie – ein Update...“ – RA Dr. Florian Brahms