German cabinet approves RED III rules for biomass - Bioenergy Insight Magazine
German cabinet approves RED III rules for biomass Germany’s federal cabinet has approved amendments to two national sustainability ordinances. The changes give authorities new powers to tackle certificate fraud in the biofuels market and raise greenhouse gas (GHG) savings requirements for bioenergy power plants. The revisions to the Biofuel Sustainability Ordinance (Biokraft-NachV) and the Biomass Electricity Sustainability Ordinance (BioSt-NachV) were approved on 28 October. They transpose the sustainability re...
Oct 29, 2026
German cabinet approves RED III rules for biomass
Germany’s federal cabinet has approved amendments to two national sustainability ordinances. The changes give authorities new powers to tackle certificate fraud in the biofuels market and raise greenhouse gas (GHG) savings requirements for bioenergy power plants.
The revisions to the Biofuel Sustainability Ordinance (Biokraft-NachV) and the Biomass Electricity Sustainability Ordinance (BioSt-NachV) were approved on 28 October. They transpose the sustainability requirements of the EU’s revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) into German law. The environment ministry (BMUKN) led the amendments, which aim to ensure that energy use of biomass does not harm the environment, particularly biodiversity.
The ordinances do not require approval from the Bundesrat, Germany’s upper house. They will take effect the day after publication in the Federal Law Gazette.
Ending ‘protection of trust’
The changes respond partly to a scandal that came to light in 2023, when advanced biofuels from China counted towards Germany’s GHG quota were suspected of being mislabelled.
A central measure is abolishing the so-called “protection of trust” rule. Under this rule, sustainability certificates could not be withdrawn retroactively if fraud was discovered after they were issued. Under the new framework, mis-declared biofuels will be excluded from quota counting, and sustainability certificates must be transferred or submitted to the German biofuel quota authority within three years.
Certification bodies also face stricter requirements. The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) gains access to detailed supply chain information, along with its own inspection and control rights. Use of the EU’s Union Database, designed to track liquid and gaseous fuels across the supply chain, will become mandatory once it is operational.
The German Biofuels Industry Association (VDB) welcomed the decision. Managing director Elmar Baumann said three years of fraud involving supposedly advanced biofuels had held back substantial investment in charging infrastructure, green hydrogen, e-fuels and new biofuels.
Higher bar for bioenergy power
For electricity generation, required GHG savings rise from 70% to 80% for installations commissioned after 20 November 2023. Existing plants that received EEG support before that date remain under the previous RED II GHG rules. In most cases, they will not need to carry out GHG calculations until the end of 2030.
As previously reported by Bioenergy Insight, the BioSt-NachV also extends sustainability certification to solid biomass power plants of 7.5MW and above, down from 20MW. A transitional period applies for certification.
The amendments also clarify sustainability requirements for wood-based residues. The aim is to strengthen protection for old-growth forests and sensitive areas such as heathland and peatland.
When the draft was submitted to the European Commission in July, the Federal Bioenergy Association (BBE) welcomed the removal of forestry definitions that would have gone beyond RED III. However, it criticised the lack of additional default values and simplified GHG calculation methods. It also criticised Germany’s decision not to use RED III’s option of a simplified verification system for plants between 7.5 and 20MW.
Delayed transposition
Germany’s deadline for transposing RED III’s bioenergy sustainability provisions passed in May 2025. Industry groups had warned that the delay left operators of older plants uncertain about which requirements would apply to them.
The approval comes shortly after the government confirmed it has no current plans to develop a National Biomass Strategy (NABIS). That strategy was intended to prioritise the use of limited biomass across power, heat, transport and materials.
In an answer to a parliamentary question from the Left Party published on 14 October, the government said biomass remains important to its climate and energy security goals. It expects demand for biogenic fuels in heating to keep rising, but acknowledged it has no complete overview of how much biomass is produced in Germany or how much is used for energy.
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