As of: February 2, 2024, 9:11 a.m
By: Lars-Eric Nievelstein
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The government is pumping billions into the energy transition.
Financing green electricity could now be much more expensive than expected.
This is revealed by a new calculation by the FDP.
Berlin – As a current calculation by the FDP parliamentary group shows, around 17 billion euros are expected to be missing from the financing of green electricity generation for 2024.
If this is true, the financing gap would be significantly larger than previously assumed.
Michael Kruse, the FDP's energy policy spokesman, made clear demands on the traffic light coalition.
Calculated financing gap (network operator) |
7.8 billion euros |
|---|---|
Calculated financing gap (FDP) |
17 billion euros |
Revenue per kilowatt hour (grid operator) |
9.2 cents |
Significantly higher EEG financing needs than expected
At the heart of this financing problem is the way in which operators of solar and wind turbines receive their compensation.
Operators can expect a certain price on the electricity exchanges per kilowatt hour.
However, if this is too low, you are entitled to a compensation payment from the so-called EEG account.
This compensation is intended to ensure that operators continue to have enough money to expand renewable energies.
The account is under the control of Tennet, 50Hertz, Amprion and TransnetBW – the four major transmission system operators in Germany.
The government is pumping billions into the energy transition.
Financing green electricity could now be much more expensive than expected.
This is revealed by a new calculation by the FDP.
© IMAGO / Future Image Frederic Kern
This account, in turn, receives financial resources from the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF), which receives money from EU emissions trading, the German CO₂ tax and tax revenue.
A spokesman for TransnetBW said in response to an
Ippen.Media
query: “Low stock market prices lead to higher expenditure on EEG funding.”
“Compensation payments for the EEG are eating up the KFT” – FDP finds billion-dollar gap
FDP spokesman Michael Kruse explains the whole thing as follows: A further fall in electricity prices is imminent, which could put green electricity operators in an emergency situation.
In the calculations for 2024, the federal government had expected compensation payments of 10.6 billion euros, which would have to flow into the EEG account.
According to the FDP calculation, that is far from enough: it would have to be 27.5 billion euros.
However, the FDP wants to reduce the subsidies that flow into the industry instead of expanding them.
According to the party, the massive costs threaten to overwhelm the KTF.
“If Robert Habeck doesn’t take countermeasures with his policies now, the compensation payments for the EEG will eat up the KTF,” said FDP politician Kruse.
He told the
FAZ
: “The coalition agreement includes the exit from permanent subsidies for renewables.
It’s time for Minister Habeck to start implementing it instead of constantly causing billions in additional expenses.”
For many years, the federal government has been promoting the progress of the energy transition through a variety of programs.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection has a list of funding programs here that actually require a lot of financial resources.
Incidentally, further surcharges for certain solar and wind power plants were recently discussed - and for power plant parks.
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The financing gap for renewables at a glance
How is it possible that the FDP's calculations deviate so drastically from previous expectations?
Firstly, there are the remaining claims of the network operators for the years 2022 and 2023. These amount to around 3.4 billion euros.
Secondly, the cheaper market prices are expected to result in an additional burden of over 13.5 billion euros.
Apparently the network operators have calculated figures that are far too high when it comes to the prices that can be achieved on the market.
As soon as these are too low, the government has to transfer additional funds from the KTF.
A “realistic stock market price” of six cents per kilowatt hour is expected for 2024.
In January it was 7.6 cents and in December it was 6.8 cents.
“A further decline is highly likely,” FDP spokesman Kruse told the FAZ.
The network operators had calculated 9.2 cents per kilowatt hour.
This is no longer realistic.
Billion holes and the dispute over the budget
This latest problem comes at the worst possible time for the federal government.
The coal phase-out is currently at risk because the construction of new power plants is more expensive than expected, and the introduction of basic child welfare is imminent.
A further 7.5 billion euros are planned for this from 2025.
The stock pension could immediately trigger the next budget dispute; it is expected to consume ten billion euros per year.
Other construction sites include the general renovation of the railway and climate money, of which it is not clear how and when it will be implemented.
Employers and economists warn that Germany is putting itself at risk.
With material from dpa