Source: Energy & Management Powernews, March 11, 2022
The municipal utility company Thüga has published a position paper on district heating.
For Thüga, the current framework conditions for district heating do not yet fit the politically formulated goals. "There is an urgent need for action," says Michael Riechel, Chairman of the Board of Thüga AG. To ensure that the transformation to a CO2-free district heating supply by 2045 postulated by politicians succeeds, Thüga is calling for the political and regulatory framework to be adjusted in the short term. In doing so, it would like to provide an impetus in the debate surrounding the German government's so-called Easter and Summer Package.
In the two-page position paper, which has been drawn up by 14 energy and water suppliers from the Thüga Group, it sets out what a "reliable, affordable and increasingly climate-neutral district heating supply" could look like. In order to secure the power supply in Germany even during a dark lull, "an additional 40 gigawatts or so of hydrogen-capable, flexible power plants are required."
For efficiency reasons, at least half of this capacity should come from flexible combined heat and power plants, Thüga says. "This can be implemented quickly, firstly by increasing the tender volumes and secondly by increasing the specific subsidy rates."
"Federal subsidy program for efficient heating networks" falls short
In principle, the municipal utility welcomes the "Federal subsidy program for efficient heating networks" (BEW), which is currently being prepared, but says the current draft falls short. "The funding period for district heating should be extended to at least ten years" in order to give companies long-term planning security.
Furthermore, the total budget of the BEW should be gradually increased to 3 billion euros per year by 2025, according to another demand. In addition, the program should "come into force as quickly as possible." It should also be made easier for providers to connect buildings to the district heating network. The administrative hurdles in this area would have to be dismantled by politicians.
As a further point of criticism, Thüga cites the disadvantage of district heating to individual heating systems. "Due to CO2 pricing, district heating customers currently have to pay about three times as much for CO2 compared to users of decentralized individual heating." This system-related distortion of competition, he said, means that individual heating systems with higher CO2 emissions are often installed in a district heating supply area. Thüga is therefore calling for district heating to be removed from the scope of the Heat Supply Ordinance and permanently anchored as a permissible substitute measure in the Building Energy Act (GEG).
"Municipalities need a politically formulated mandate for action in order to draw up and implement their municipal heating planning together with the local energy supplier, the citizens concerned and other partners," says Michael Riechel. "All technologies that contribute to CO2 reduction must be permitted, as must hydrogen as an energy carrier. Any kind of restriction at the federal or state level means that CO2 reduction potentials cannot be optimally exploited locally."
The "Thüga position paper on the transformation of district heating"can be downloaded from Thüga's website.
Author: Stefan Sagmeister