According to Habeck's heating plans: will electricity soon have to be rationed?

According to plans by Economics Minister Habeck, oil and gas heating systems are threatened with extinction from 2024.

Instead, heat pumps will be in demand in the future.

Experts warn that this could push the power grid to its limits.

Berlin – If the whole of Germany suddenly switches to heat pumps, there is a risk of the electricity grid being overloaded.

The Federal Network Agency fears this, according to the

, which quotes from a network agency paper.

The background is a draft law by Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), who wants to ban the installation of new oil and gas heating systems from 2024.

Accordingly, only heating systems that produce at least 65 percent of the heat from renewables should be installed.

Heat pumps that run on electricity are particularly popular.

Power grid overload: Heat pumps can be regulated

Everyone knows that the demand for electricity in Germany will only increase.

Accordingly, work is already underway on a strategy to prevent the power grid from being overloaded.

The Association of German Electrical Engineers (VDE) writes that this is one of the reasons why heat pumps are already classified as “controllable consumer devices” by law.

In concrete terms, this means that the network operator can regulate the output of heat pumps in order to prevent the system from being overloaded.

The VDE also points out that the network agency is working on binding rules for regulation.

, such a paper should

already be circulating.

It would therefore also be possible to ration electricity for e-cars in order to prevent further loads on the power grid.

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From 2024, Germany should no longer install any new oil or gas heating systems.

© RONNY HARTMANN/afp

Heat pumps are powered by electricity

Heat pumps are powered by electricity.

Where this comes from can vary, but ideally the heat pump is connected to solar cells on the roof so that the electricity comes 100 percent from renewable sources.

As a result, the household supplies itself. However, solar cells cannot currently produce enough electricity all year round to cover the needs of the household and a heat pump in all seasons.

In the cloudy winter, even those who have solar cells have to switch to the regular power grid.

Nevertheless, these households can contribute to relieving the load on the power grid overall, as long as they produce their own electricity on sunny days.

If you don't have any solar cells at all, but instead have a heat pump, you are always dependent on the conventional electricity mix.

Blackout due to heat pumps?

Network operators control the supply

So is there a threat of electricity consumption being monitored if more people operate heat pumps and electric cars in the future?

At the very least, network operators will have to pay more attention to ensuring that electricity is distributed fairly.

It is therefore conceivable that one or the other will have to do without for certain periods of time.

However, the law of the Ministry of Economic Affairs does not force all households to operate a heat pump.

There are also sustainable heating systems that do not require electricity.

This also includes district heating or pellet heating.

List of rubrics: © RONNY HARTMANN/afp