Renewables should help finance grid expansion – German economy minister
dpa / Die Zeit
Germany's wind park and solar farm operators should contribute to the financing of electricity grid expansion, economy minister Katherina Reiche told news agency dpa. "System responsibility means that the costs of grid expansion should no longer be borne solely by electricity customers through grid operators and general grid fees," Reiche said, as reported by Die Zeit.
Grids need to be expanded and updated to accommodate a growing number of decentralised renewable installations, which are increasingly replacing conventional power plants.
Reiche called for a "fair distribution of responsibility" for grid expansion costs, adding that renewable power operators should "take responsibility" and contribute to grid stability. The energy transition will succeed "if we consistently combine the expansion of renewables with cost efficiency," the minister said.
The economy ministry plans to present an energy policy "reality check" by the end of summer, aimed at aligning the expansion of renewable power sources with grid expansion. The report would look at projections for electricity demand, grid expansion and other key energy developments.
Renewables have become the cheapest form of electricity generation. However, to ensure the lights stay on year-round, the electricity system needs to be upgraded and expanded to include cross-border infrastructure, storage, back-up capacity and encourage demand flexibility to make up for renewables’ intermittency. How efficiently this is done will largely determine future power prices.
Renewables in Germany have received guaranteed feed-in support payments for decades. The scheme is credited with powering the country's renewables growth but, as their share in the electricity mix grows, the country has to figure out how to bring integration costs down while spurring investments on.
In a discussion paper from May, Germany’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) called for a wide reform of the system of fees that finance the country's network of power lines, proposing an option where electricity producers pay to feed-in electricity into the grid.
Germany aims to become climate neutral by 2045. The country succeeded in ramping up the expansion of renewables in recent years, yet grid expansion has been lagging. To prevent grid bottlenecks, renewable energy has had to be increasingly curtailed, as Germany still lacks the power lines to transport electricity across the country. A robust grid network will form the backbone of a clean future where industry, heating and transport are all powered by electricity.
