The energy transition in Germany should progress quickly. Economics Minister Habeck is promising important decisions, for example on hydrogen, for this year.
The plans to set up a main network for hydrogen in Germany are to be presented before the summer holidays. Economics Minister Robert Habeck announced this on Saturday during a visit to the coastal power plant in Kiel. Now it must be clarified who pays for this network, said the Green politician.
The network operators would now have to build lines for a substance that is not yet available and will only come in large quantities in five or six years. “You have to pay in advance.” With a good market model, network operators will be able to do that, according to Habeck. If not, they will have to be supported. “We are now presenting the plans as to what it should look like and are not presenting them as Robert Habeck envisages them, but are in concrete coordination with the network operators.”
The minister said that a decision had to be made about the power plant strategy. For amounts of electricity that are not covered by wind and sun, there should be hydrogen power plants and hydrogen-capable power plants in the future. “Where are we going? What quantities are being tendered? What is the additional remuneration? We are clarifying that right now.” This should be presented in the second half of the year. The auction is planned for the end of the year.
“Use instead of switch off”
For the electricity market, the minister announced that the “use instead of switch off” concept must now be implemented quickly. In Schleswig-Holstein or in eastern Germany, for example, it is always a nuisance when electricity that can be generated cannot be transported in the grid. Then it will be switched off and a fee will be paid. “We want to change that now,” he said.
It happens time and again that wind turbines have to be switched off precisely because there is a lot of wind and the electricity cannot be diverted. According to Habeck, this electricity can be used, for example, to generate heat for district heating. Conducted heat supply is a very good option for urban areas. The different possibilities of heat generation could be combined. In many places, the heat suppliers have long since implemented what politicians are still discussing. They are drivers of development, said Habeck. “I’d rather let myself drift than slow down.”
Source: Stern
