Habeck announces plans for a hydrogen network before the summer holidays

by time news

2023-05-01 11:05:56

DThe plans to set up a main network for hydrogen in Germany are to be presented before the summer holidays. Economics Minister Robert Habeck announced this on Saturday during a visit to the coastal power plant in Kiel. Now it must be clarified who pays for this network, said the Green politician.

The network operators would now have to build lines for a substance that is not yet available and will only come in large quantities in five or six years. “They have to make advance payments.” If the market model is good, the network operators will be able to do that, according to Habeck. If not, they will have to be supported. “We are now presenting the plans of what it should look like and are not presenting them as Robert Habeck envisages them, but are in concrete coordination with the network operators.”

The minister said that a decision had to be made about the power plant strategy. For amounts of electricity that are not covered by wind and sun, there should be hydrogen power plants and hydrogen-capable power plants in the future. “Where do we go? What quantities are tendered? What is the additional remuneration? We are clarifying that right now.” This should be presented in the second half of the year. The auction is planned for the end of the year.

For the electricity market, the minister announced that the concept of “use instead of switching off” must now be implemented quickly. In Schleswig-Holstein or in eastern Germany, for example, it is always a nuisance when electricity that can be generated cannot be transported in the grid. Then it will be switched off and a fee will be paid. “We want to change that now,” he said.

It happens time and again that wind turbines have to be switched off precisely because there is a lot of wind and the electricity cannot be diverted. According to Habeck, this electricity can be used, for example, to generate heat for district heating. Conducted heat supply is a very good option for urban areas. The different possibilities of heat generation could be combined. In many places, the heat suppliers have long since implemented what politicians are still discussing. They are drivers of development, said Habeck. “I’d rather be driven than slowed down.”

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