The Federal Network Agency expects “stable or falling” electricity prices in the coming year: “Renewable energies are increasing the supply of electricity, which is lowering generation prices,” said Klaus Müller, President of the Federal Network Agency, in Saturday's edition of the “Rheinische Post.” Although grid fees are rising due to grid expansion, the government will subsidize these by €6.5 billion, which means that there will be no increase in prices overall.
Müller called for the expansion of the electricity grid to be made cheaper. This could be achieved “by using overhead lines instead of expensive underground cables for electricity highways, creating incentives for cost efficiency, and distributing grid costs more fairly.”
Specifically, the head of the Federal Network Agency called for solar roof operators to be asked to pay more: “For example, anyone who commissions a solar roof or a solar park should contribute more to the grid costs. After all, they benefit from a well-developed grid, both when they sell electricity and when the sun is not shining,” Müller explained. “Ultimately, this is also a social issue.”
Meanwhile, Müller considered the gas supply to be secure despite the cold weather and moderately full gas storage facilities this winter: “There is currently no threat of a gas shortage,” he told the “Rheinische Post.” “The situation is very different from the first year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
Müller referred to the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG). “LNG terminals, large quantities of pipeline gas from Norway, and imports via Belgium, the Netherlands, and at times France secure our supply.”
According to the information available, gas storage facilities in Germany are currently 60 percent full, but Europe's largest storage facility in Rehden, Lower Saxony, is only about 28 percent full. Müller does not see this as a problem: “It is located in the hinterland of the LNG terminals and no longer has the same high geographical significance as it used to.”
With regard to gas prices, Müller said that they are currently falling. This is “unfortunately also due to the weak economy, with businesses demanding less gas.” In the long term, however, the Network Agency president expects gas prices to rise: "On the one hand, CO2 taxes are increasing, and on the other hand, so are network charges for gas. Germany wants to be climate-neutral by 2045. As the decommissioning of the gas networks approaches, the number of gas customers will decline. Network costs will be spread across fewer and fewer consumers."
“Some municipalities want to move away from gas as early as 2035, others in 2040 or 2045,” Müller continued. “One thing is clear: it will become more expensive. Consumers are already drawing their conclusions and switching to alternatives such as heat pumps or district heating.”
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