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13.09.2024
GAS POWER PLANTS. The CHP Act should be extended as quickly as possible and biogas should be used as a fuel, according to the industry association Flexperten. Time is pressing because biogas plants would otherwise be dismantled.
The biogas association Flexperten is cautiously optimistic about recent statements by the Federal Minister of Economics. Robert Habeck (Greens) announced a "comprehensive biomass package" at the end of August. "Biogas can continue to play an important role in the future energy system," he said. A corresponding adjustment to the funding for the flexible use of biomass plants is currently being worked on at the Ministry (BMWK). Unfortunately, there is no draft yet, according to the flex experts in an online event on September 6.
According to the ministry, future subsidies will give preference to systems that are connected to a heating or building network. Systems that produce flexibly according to demand are to receive more funding. In addition, money will only be available for times of day when electricity is needed. And anyone who wants to switch from the old subsidy system to the new one should be able to do so while the subsidy period is still running. The proposals are to become part of the planned reform of the Energy Industry Act.
Draft new funding quickly
"This is wonderful news for the biogas industry, which will not only be 'saved' itself in this way, but will also be able to make an important systemic contribution to the energy transition in the future - and thus also open a new economic chapter," said Uwe Welteke-Fabricius, Managing Director of the association. However, the new guidelines would have to come quickly, as biogas plants are already being shut down or even dismantled because they are no longer profitable without funding under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG).
"Most biogas operators will certainly have to invest heavily so that the plants can meet future requirements," said Welteke-Fabricius. A new subsidy would have to be compatible with the Power Plant Security Act (KWSG) and also fit into the capacity mechanism later on, according to the flex experts. Jörg Lange from "Klimaschutz im Bundestag" also called for incentives to use energy more flexibly when it is available.
In order for biogas plants to become renewable storage power plants, they need to be massively expanded. "So a significantly larger installed capacity must be put out to tender - without more biogas being required," he explained. This would ensure additional climate protection, a cheaper heat transition and provide security for the imminent coal phase-out and against new import dependencies. Biogas could assume system responsibility, also by replacing natural gas in regional CHP plants, according to the association.
Today's biomass plants could become new storage power plants with large heat buffers, according to the industry. Such storage power plants would include large heat buffers for the temporally independent supply of heat networks and the integration of heat pumps, electrolysers and other environmental heat sources. The association is calling for large heat buffers in outdoor areas to be granted privileged approval without extra development plans.
Power plants for security of supply
The current financing and incentive systems should be reformed in favor of demand-adjusted energy production and supply-adjusted consumption, the industry suggests. "On the one hand, electricity feed-in in times of surplus should no longer be subsidized; on the other hand, the reliability of revenues must ensure that the financing of investment costs remains secure in order to avoid risk premiums for RE investments," the flex experts outline the desired framework.
However, the coal phase-out could then be achieved much more cheaply if a multi-track and technology-neutral approach is taken. The capacity requirement could be covered by existing CHP plants by shortening their operating hours and significantly increasing their power generation capacity. "This can be achieved through simple changes to the EEG and by extending the CHP Act," say the experts at Flexperten.
Power plant strategy not just for hydrogen
The use of biogas in these plants could eliminate over 3,000 MW of base load feed-in and relieve the grids for new renewable energy plants. As flexible storage power plants, biogas plants could instead provide 15,000 to 25,000 MW at times when they are needed. According to the association, this "renewable power plant strategy" would save around 250 million tons of CO2 over the next ten years.
With electrolysers, an additional 10,000 MW of surplus electricity from renewable sources could be converted into green hydrogen, stored and then used in the same storage power plants for the local heat transition and to cover residual loads in the electricity system. Unlike the new gas-fired power plants envisaged in the KWSG, CHP plants would also use the heat generated.
Author: Susanne Harmsen
Source: Energy & Management Powernews
