Ministry submits paper
This is how the federal government wants to get out of the gas dependency
3/5/2022 5:06 p.m
The sanctions against Russia require the federal government to radically realign its energy policy. A draft by the Federal Ministry of Economics now brings far-reaching measures into play. The industry is also calling for a rethink when it comes to phasing out coal.
The Federal Ministry of Economics is examining comprehensive measures to reduce gas consumption. According to a paper by an ad hoc gas reduction project group that has now been published, Germany must resolutely and quickly reduce its heavy dependency on “particularly Russian energy imports, particularly natural gas.” The plan contains, among other things, a solar roof obligation for commercial and private new buildings, for which there should be “low-interest solar subsidy loans”. A “waste heat usage obligation” is also planned.
The paper, labeled “interim status” and dated February 22, goes on to say: “The short-term answer to the current crisis lies in the diversification of natural gas imports – it is just as important to meet the demand for natural gas in the medium to long term to reduce.”
According to the paper, from 2025 only heating systems that are operated on the basis of 65 percent renewable energies will be allowed to be installed. “Specifically, this means that from 2025, heat pumps will be installed and buildings will be connected to heating networks, with biomass and solar thermal as well as photovoltaic roof systems playing a supporting role.”
Training offensive in crafts
A “broad information campaign” and the early promise of subsidies should prevent property owners from quickly “installing massive fossil heating systems, so to speak, in stock”. A “training offensive for heat pump installers” is intended to prevent bottlenecks in craftsman capacities.
In order to be able to feed district heating networks with non-fossil energy in the future, the concept also includes a “waste heat usage obligation”. Federal funding for efficient heating networks, which has so far only provided a budget of 1.5 billion euros up to 2025, is to be “reliably increased to 11.4 billion euros” by 2030.
“In the short term, the federal government is strengthening energy efficiency in industry with the help of super write-offs,” the ten-page paper continues. This is intended to trigger investments in efficiency technology. The process heat should not come from gas combustion, but from large, electricity-driven heat pumps and electrode boilers. The aim of the federal government is “to sustainably reduce natural gas consumption in the industrial sector and to encourage the use of green hydrogen by tendering climate protection contracts for hydrogen”.
The FDP has concerns
The deputy FDP parliamentary group leader Carina Konrad warned against hasty action. “In view of the current situation, we are forced to examine all options for making the building sector less dependent on Russian natural gas, but there must be no quick fixes,” said Konrad. “The hasty, complete exclusion of natural gas as a fuel, a nationwide solar roof obligation or the sole focus on heat pumps would not only make the energy transition in the building sector incredibly expensive, but also hinder innovations,” warned Konrad.
The President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Siegfried Russwurm, pleaded in the “Welt am Sonntag” to postpone the phase-out of coal in order to become less dependent on Russian gas supplies. “While we can aim for a concrete phase-out date for the coal phase-out, we still have to reserve coal capacities flexibly for as long as we cannot do without them for our security of supply,” he said.
When asked whether climate protection should take second place to security of supply, the BDI President said: “We will have to rebalance the triad of energy costs, climate protection and security of supply.” At the same time, Russwurm spoke out against a renewed debate on the use of nuclear energy in Germany.