The German government intends to once again permit the installation of new gas heating systems and instead utilize more green gases for climate protection. However, according to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute published on Monday, Germany’s gas supply network has no future. Energy providers are unlikely to be able to offer competitive gas prices beyond 2045—at the very latest—under realistic conditions, the experts stated. Consequently, the gas networks will “in all likelihood” be shut down by that time.
“The switch to biogas is not working because a large proportion of households are shifting to heat pumps or district heating networks,” the study authors explain. “This is because if gas grid operators no longer have enough customers, they cannot continue to operate their networks economically. As a result, the price of gas rises for the remaining households.”
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The federal government intends to largely roll back the so-called heating law introduced during the tenure of the “traffic-light” coalition. The continued operation and new installation of oil and gas heating systems are to remain possible in the long term. To offset this, newly installed gas and oil heating systems will be required to run on increasing proportions of biogas or bio-oil starting in 2029. To make the operation of existing heating systems more climate-friendly, fuel suppliers will be required to increasingly blend in biogenic materials.
However, the availability and affordability of alternative fuels remain highly uncertain. At the same time, gas heating systems typically have a lifespan of around 25 years. “Consequently, even under the new heating law, any newly installed gas heating system risks becoming a bad investment,” warns the Fraunhofer Institute. “Anyone installing a gas heating system today in the hope of a biogas supply will be left with an expensive ‘stranded asset’—an investment that has lost its value.”
Author: AFP – pe/bk
Sources: AFP Press Portal