With its Green Paper, the BMWK has fueled the discussion about the expansion of supply networks. The municipal utilities are required to take a stand.
Berlin – By 2045, Germany's energy supply should become climate-neutral and be able to completely dispense with fossil fuels as energy resources. On the way there, emissions are expected to fall by 65 percent compared to 1990 by 2030. In order to meet the goals of the energy transition, the conversion of technology and supply networks must begin at some point.
German households heat with gas and oil
After the federal government focused on the decarbonization of private households in terms of climate policy last year, logistical and infrastructural questions are now coming to the fore. According to data from the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), around 72 percent of heating systems in German households are currently still powered by gas or petroleum. Compared to 2019, the share of fossil energy sources in the total supply has only decreased slightly.
In order to reduce the demand for fossil fuels, more and more households will have to be supplied by heating networks in the coming years or obtain their heat directly from electricity-powered heat pumps. If the number of natural gas consumers and the volume of natural gas purchased decreases, the costs of operating and maintaining the supply networks will have to be borne by fewer and fewer customers. At some point this will be very expensive for the remaining gas customers. So how can an affordable and economically viable energy supply be secured even in the transition phase of the energy transition?
Experts warn of massive increases in supply fees for natural gas networks
In order to get this discussion going, Federal Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) presented a discussion paper in March (March 21, 2024) - a so-called Green Paper. Among other things, it deals with how owners and tenants are informed in a timely manner about the restructuring or closure of gas networks. But also about protecting network operators from ruin if they are forced to continue operating an unsustainable gas network.
The massive change in energy supply to households and companies as part of the energy transition will be a challenge for network operators. If the number of connected customers decreases by 40 percent, this would still be manageable for the suppliers, explained Pascal Hütt, partner at the consulting firm Arthur D. Little, in a recent interview with
Spiegel
. But there is a tipping point: “If the number of connection customers falls by 80 percent, the network fees for those remaining threaten to rise to utopian heights,” emphasized Hütt.
How the energy transition can work in an economically viable manner is also one of the main concerns in Habeck's discussion paper. “It is crucial that a continuous, affordable energy supply to end consumers is guaranteed during the transformation phase,” it says, among other things. “If natural gas networks are shut down, the connected customers must have sufficient lead time to convert their energy supply,” the BMWK further emphasizes. However, it is not specified which period of time is specifically meant by “sufficient lead time”.
“What the municipalities do with their gas networks is entirely up to them to decide.”
In its Green Paper, the BMWK also points out that a legal framework must be created for distribution network operators' decommissioning plans that require approval in order to be able to implement the EU Gas and Hydrogen Internal Market Directive. The ministry emphasizes that the paper is aimed first at the energy industry with questions - there are no concrete plans at this point.
The government originally wanted to quickly and comprehensively ban the installation of new heating devices using fossil fuels. However, after massive resistance arose, the traffic light coalition has also added a heat planning law to the Building Energy Act (GEG) since the beginning of the year. According to him, all major cities in the country should submit supply plans for their entire urban area by mid-2026. Municipalities should follow suit by mid-2028.
“What the municipalities do with their gas networks, they decide entirely on their own, and not the BMWK,” wrote Philipp Steinberg, head of the energy security department in the ministry, recently on the short message service X (formerly Twitter).
How do cities and municipalities deal with the debate about gas networks?
But how are cities and municipalities in Germany currently dealing with this? On Tuesday, the
Bild
newspaper headlined
that Augsburg would be the first German city to stop supplying gas by 2035. The Stadtwerke Augsburg (SWA) defended itself against the reporting: “The gas supply in Augsburg will continue to be secured within the framework of the legal regulations “, their representatives explained in a press release. At least there are currently no plans to dismantle the supply networks.
However, the SWA also emphasizes in the communication that it has been informing large heat consumers from industry and commerce for four years with a letter that district heating will be available there within a period of around ten years. The reason is that consumers can incorporate the information into their considerations for future heat supply when planning new types of heat supply.
“We are not talking about individual homeowners who now have to fear that their gas boiler will soon be discarded,” explained SWA spokesman Jürgen Ferrg to
Spiegel.
The idea that Augsburg citizens would suddenly lose their gas connection and be forced to change their heating system is nonsense.
Municipal utilities should respond to the Green Paper’s suggestions – how do they react?
The BMWK has called on the energy supplier industry to provide feedback on its green paper by Friday (April 12, 2024). But how do the municipal utilities react? After all, they are still economically dependent on the operation of the gas supply networks. In Hanover, there are currently plans to contribute only two percent of gas to the entire heat supply of Hanover households in 2040, explained the CEO of the Hanover energy company Enercity, Marc Hansmann. “Every municipal utility has to find its own way,” Hansmann is quoted by the
Zeitung für Kommunal Wirtschaft
(ZfK).
A large-scale expansion of the district heating network has also been taking place in the city center of Dillingen an der Donau in Bavaria since the beginning of March, as
Bayerischer Rundfunk
(BR) reports. The new pipes will be used to heat around 250 single-family homes. Dillingen's mayor Frank Kunz (CSU) explained to
BR
that district heating is the optimal way to heat in compliance with the law, especially for old buildings under monument protection
. Because heat pumps can hardly be used here, and the houses cannot be insulated from the outside due to monument protection. (
fh)