About us News service Jobs & Career Press bayern-innovativ.de
  1. Bayern Innovativ
  2. eMagazine
  3. # energy & construction
  4. Detail

Study: Billion-euro gap in the expansion of electricity and heating grids requires new financing models

Think tanks see an additional equity requirement of EUR 68 billion by 2035

07.01.2025

Source: Agora Think Tanks gGmbH

The expansion of electricity and heating grids in Germany is increasingly reaching its financial limits.

According to a joint study by Agora Energiewende, Stiftung Klimaneutralität and Dezernat Zukunft, around 900 energy supply companies will need an additional 68 billion euros in equity by 2035 in order to implement the energy and heating transition.

Small and municipal energy suppliers, which supply a large proportion of households but have limited financial leeway, are particularly affected. The analysis shows that more than 90 percent of suppliers are dependent on additional equity. The study is based on a clustering of companies according to size, financial strength, supply area and ownership structure.

According to the study, state loan guarantees, additional equity contributions from shareholders and moderately reduced profit distributions could significantly reduce the equity requirement - to around 12 billion euros. This remaining gap would have to be closed jointly by the federal government, the federal states and private investors.

The authors of the study propose, among other things, a publicly supported energy infrastructure fund that invests equity in bundled grid projects and thus also becomes attractive for private investors. Such a fund could be established under the umbrella of the Deutschlandfonds.

The aim of the proposed measures is to secure the energy suppliers' ability to invest without placing an additional burden on municipal budgets or consumers. At the same time, the companies are to be prepared for falling income from the gas business, which is expected due to rising CO₂ prices, electrification and climate targets.

The study concludes that a combination of traditional financing instruments and targeted state investments can secure the expansion of the grid - and thus create a key prerequisite for a climate-neutral, affordable energy supply.

Read the full press release here: How the billion-euro gap in the expansion of electricity and heating grids can be closed