Germany’s Bundestag has approved amendments to the biomass ordinance that restrict subsidies for electricity generated from industrial roundwood, aiming to encourage the use of suitable timber for manufacturing rather than power generation, Lesprom reported.
The restrictions will apply to new biomass power plants and existing facilities seeking renewed support under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). Subsidies already granted to existing plants will remain unaffected.
The revised rules cover industrial roundwood such as sawlogs, veneer logs and pulpwood suitable for mechanical or chemical processing. Electricity generated from such wood, as well as stumps and roots, will generally no longer qualify for new subsidies. However, wood-processing residues will remain eligible.
The amendments provide exceptions where the wood is required to safeguard Germany’s energy supply or where local industries lack the capacity or technical ability to use it for products that offer greater economic and environmental value than energy generation. Certain timber harvested following documented forest damage may also qualify under specified conditions.
The Bundestag also removed an explicit reference to the panel, pulp and paper industries from the definition of industrial roundwood. Biomass power plants generating electricity without producing heat will receive support only in regions covered by the European Union’s Just Transition Fund.
According to the government, Germany has 742 solid-biomass power plants. Around 150 facilities, with a combined capacity exceeding 500 MW, are expected to reach the end of their 20-year subsidy period between 2025 and 2028 and may apply for fresh support. However, the government has not specified how many of these plants use industrial roundwood.
Germany’s timber harvest declined 6.4% in 2025 to 57.3 million cubic metres, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Of this, 12.7 million cubic metres came from trees damaged by bark beetles, drought and storms.
The amendments have received support from several timber and forestry industry associations, including the German Sawmill Association (DeSH), the Forest Owners’ Association (AGDW) and the Wood Energy Association (FVH). They said the revised rules provide greater flexibility in timber utilisation and align more closely with the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED III).
However, environmental organisation Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) criticised the decision, arguing that linking restrictions to forest and market conditions could weaken the principle of prioritising wood for material use over energy production. The organisation called for an end to subsidies for electricity generated from wood.
The governing CDU/CSU and SPD supported the amendments, while the AfD, Greens and Left voted against them. The German government must formally adopt the revised ordinance, which will come into force the day after its publication in the Federal Law Gazette.
