More and more companies are relying on their own green electricity production – primarily for economic reasons. However, the Federal Energy Ministry’s plans could slow down this development.
Electricity plays a major role in the Nanno Janssen family business from East Frisia. The freight forwarding company is fully committed to e-mobility: it already has 60 electric trucks. You produce a lot of electricity yourself – thanks to an 800 kilowatt hour peak photovoltaic system and a large battery storage system. According to the company, the total costs of around two million euros will be paid off after about five years.
The shipping company uses all of the electricity it produces itself. With a PV system and storage, around 20 percent of its electricity needs can be covered. The fifth generation will now take over at the traditional company. Focusing everything on e-mobility and power generation was a strategic decision that opens up new scope for design. “We are no longer dependent on international oil or gas markets. We already know how much the electricity we generate ourselves will cost us over the next ten years,” says junior boss Nanno Janssen.
Inhibits what is planned Procurement procedure the expansion?
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The family business is watching the plans of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy with regard to network expansion and connection procedures with concern. The fear: It would be difficult to approve new plants in the region. “Uncertainty is poison for investment decisions,” explains Janssen.
Because a core aspect of the design is… Plusminus present, provides for the allocation of network connections to be re-regulated. This is intended to better distribute the load on the network. To date, approvals for renewable energies have been based on the order in which applications were submitted. According to the plans, the network operators will then decide who will be connected first in the future.
Where there are already many renewables, new systems will have a harder time getting approval because they could put further strain on the grid. Anyone who wants to build in such regions could be subject to a so-called redispatch reservation in the future. This means that the previous compensation payments could no longer be made. These are paid when wind or solar systems have to be curtailed due to overloaded networks and do not feed into the network. This has previously ensured planning security for such systems.
Because funding for solar systems could also be canceled, the solar industry association is sounding the alarm and is talking about a massive attack on the industry. “We assume that demand would collapse massively in this case because it is no longer possible to plan and present such projects economically,” explains Carsten Körnig, general manager of the Federal Solar Industry Association.
So is the expansion of renewables being deliberately throttled because the old networks are overloaded? One thing is clear: According to the ministry’s plans, the network operators should be given more powers. Surprising, because according to evaluations by the Federal Audit Office, it is precisely the transmission system operators who are partly responsible for the precarious situation of the networks. They are lagging behind the federal government’s specifications when it comes to network expansion – namely around seven years or 5,700 kilometers.
The Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry (BDEW), which is responsible for network expansion, did not want to give an interview due to scheduling reasons. We shared in writing Plusminus with the fact that planning and approval of new lines often took over ten years. Last year alone, a total of around 33 billion euros were invested in network expansion.
Also Digitalization the network is lagging behind
Key points of the network package planned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs have met with criticism from economics and energy experts. Especially because important digital decisions are being neglected for an intelligent network. “But you could speed things up by digitizing the network, installing smart meters and increasing the use of battery storage,” says Claudia Kemfert, energy expert at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW).
Modernizing the network could also reduce the amount of new construction required. The leaked draft bill states that the construction of battery storage systems on existing renewables should be made easier. However, it doesn’t say how this should happen. Until then, the power grid will remain a bottleneck.
Partly because there is a problem here, more and more companies are relying on their own electricity generation. For example, the new Daimler Truck logistics center in Halberstadt in Saxony-Anhalt generates more electricity than the location needs with its 22 megawatt peak PV system, according to the company. The specialty paper producer Koehler Group from Baden-Württemberg invested around 19 million euros in two of its own wind turbines two years ago. According to Kemfert, this means that companies are more independent and exposed to fewer risks: “There is an economic calculation behind this, not an ideological one.”
What role does Minister Reiche play?
The fear: The so-called redispatch reservation, i.e. the cessation of compensation payments, could slow down the expansion of renewables. It’s interesting where this idea comes from: It was first found in the lobby register in the summer of 2024 – deposited by one of the largest network operators in Europe: E.ON.
Plusminus-Recherchen show: In November of the same year, Katherina Reiche posted a long article on the LinkedIn platform on the topic of “Getting the energy transition on track”. One of five suggestions: E.ON’s redispatch reservation. At the time, Reiche was the CEO of the E.ON subsidiary Westenergie. Almost six months later, he moved to the Ministry of Economics and Energy. “It is very noticeable that the draft is very network operator-friendly,” explains Kemfert.
Ministry wants to Renewables target hold onto
Minister Reiche Plusminus did not want to give an interview about this. After repeated inquiries, they were told: They firmly rejected allegations of a conflict of interest. Regarding the network package, a ministry spokesman explained that they generally do not comment on leaks, but: “In all of this, we are sticking to the energy transition and the EEG’s goal of achieving a renewable energy share of 80 percent in the electricity sector by 2030.”
Numerous companies, especially medium-sized ones, have already taken major steps towards the energy transition. However, if the expansion of renewable energy comes to a halt, as many fear, this could have negative consequences for all consumers, Kemfert expects: “I have a great fear that it will now become more expensive with the framework conditions that we want to change.” By focusing on gas power plants, the government is choosing the most expensive option and then wants to reduce the price of electricity at the same time. “It doesn’t add up at all.”
The shipping company Janssen wants to continue to pursue the self-sufficiency route – is interested in taking over and modernizing a wind turbine in the immediate vicinity. It is currently unclear whether this can be reconciled with the Energy Ministry’s plans.
