Environmental Institute calls for clear rules for gas grid phase-out

21.02.2025

Source: E & M powernews

The Munich Environmental Institute is calling for the decommissioning of gas distribution grids to be regulated by law. The government must use the EU gas package to involve local authorities more closely.

The phase-out of fossil fuel heating systems is progressing: according to the Munich Environment Institute, heating with natural gas will end by 2045 at the latest. This is because Germany wants to be climate-neutral by then according to the Climate Protection Act. Even before then, however, the operation of many gas distribution networks will become uneconomical as more and more households switch to renewable heating technologies. The grid fees will therefore be increasingly spread across a shrinking number of gas consumers and will therefore become more expensive.

EU Directive 2024/1788 is intended to make it easier for network operators to carry out an orderly decommissioning. However, according to the Munich Environment Institute, the directive is not sufficient to ensure a socially responsible transition.

In a recently published discussion paper, the institute therefore calls for a legal implementation that involves not only grid operators but also local authorities to a greater extent. The cities and municipalities are responsible for municipal heating planning. They should therefore have a say in deciding when and how gas distribution networks are decommissioned.

No new investments in gas networks

The EU directive stipulates that network operators must adapt their decommissioning plans to falling gas consumption. The Environmental Institute warns that in many cases it is not economically viable to convert distribution networks to hydrogen. Biomethane will also not be available in sufficient quantities for households, according to the Munich-based institute. It is therefore necessary to prevent further investment in the gas infrastructure, even though it will be decommissioned in the medium term.

The institute refers to an analysis by Agora Energiewende. According to this, the demand for natural gas and biogas will fall by up to 97 percent by 2045. Nevertheless, grid operators will continue to invest in the expansion of their grids. Although the Federal Network Agency has already made adjustments to the depreciation regulations, existing concession agreements often still contain flat-rate investment obligations.

The Umweltinstitut therefore proposes that network operators be legally exempted from the obligation to provide new gas connections. In addition, no new concession areas for gas distribution networks should be approved unless future use with renewable gases is guaranteed.

Planning security for consumers

In order to protect citizens from bad investments in new gas heating systems, the Environmental Institute is calling for a stronger information obligation for network operators. They should be obliged to publish decommissioning plans at an early stage and inform affected households about the timetable.

The EU directive stipulates that larger network operators must draw up decommissioning plans with a duration of at least ten years. In the opinion of the Umweltinstitut, this obligation should be extended to all grid operators in order to ensure an orderly phase-out. In addition, a transparency obligation should be introduced so that citizens can understand why a section of the grid is being decommissioned or kept in operation.

Another concern of the Institute is a possible ban on advertising for gas heating systems. Network operators should only be allowed to advertise new gas heating systems if they can guarantee the continued operation of a network area beyond 2045.

The Environmental Institute believes that local authorities have a key role to play in the orderly phase-out of the gas network. They are responsible for heat planning and could play an active role in shaping the process. The federal government must therefore ensure that network operators coordinate their decommissioning plans with the cities and municipalities.

In addition, the preparation of decommissioning plans must be aligned with municipal heat planning. For large cities, these should be available by 2027 at the latest, for smaller municipalities by 2029.

The Munich Environmental Institute is calling on the German government to implement the EU gas package more ambitiously. Network operators should be held more accountable for publishing decommissioning plans at an early stage and preventing new investments in gas infrastructure. At the same time, the role of local authorities should be strengthened in order to make the gas phase-out socially acceptable.

The five-page discussion paper "Orderly decommissioning of gas distribution networks in municipalities" can be downloaded from the Umweltinstitut München website.

Author: Davina Spohn