Notification by Germany of voluntary cancellation of allowances in the EU ETS for plants closed in 2022

On 2 May 2024, the Commission published Germany's notification under Article 12(4) of Directive 2003/87/EC ('ETS Directive'), concerning its intention to voluntarily cancel allowances associated with the closure of electricity generation capacities in two ETS installations in its territory in 2022 due to additional national measures.

Following the procedure for the cancellation of allowances laid down in Article 25 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2830 ('Auctioning Regulation'), Germany notified to the Commission in May 2026 the exact number of allowances to be cancelled, in relation to the year 2024, during the period between 1 September and 31 December of 2026.

Applying the methodology for calculating the volumes to be cancelled, Germany will not cancel any allowances in relation to the year 2024, given that the surplus indicator of the Market Stability Reserve ('MSR') under the EU ETS (the total number of allowances in circulation or 'TNAC') was in the buffer zone in 2025, meaning that the MSR removes the excess allowances of 2024 resulting from the plant closures and there is no need for a national cancellation.

Last year, in 2025, allowances were cancelled in relation to the year 2023, because the 2024 TNAC was above the upper threshold and only 24% of excess allowances was taken in by the MSR.

Notification documents

• Mitteilung über die Gesamtmenge der Löschung
• Mitteilung Mengennotifizierung Frechen 2024
• Mitteilung Mengennotifizierung Neurath A 2024