From the point of view of EnBW boss Georg Stamatelopoulos, support for the energy transition among the population is declining precisely because of rising energy costs. There has always been local resistance to wind turbines, for example. Now the criticism is becoming more global, he told the German Press Agency. “People don’t understand why all of this costs money.” The statement that solar and wind don’t send invoices is true. “But it can also be interpreted misleadingly.” Here it is important to explain that the expansion of renewable energies also requires the expansion of networks and decentralized storage systems, which increases costs. And on the other hand, there are savings opportunities – for example if power lines were laid above ground instead of underground. In his opinion, politicians certainly understand this. But the problem is social acceptance. “If we lose people, then the mammoth energy transition project will be made more difficult.” Over 1.2 trillion euros: “That’s too much for all customers” Investments in infrastructure are long-term – only when it is built will the positive effect that renewables do not come into play have fuel costs. Since the demand for electricity will continue to rise due to electrification in transport and heat supply, the infrastructure costs are also spread over a broader base. “That means that in the long term we will see falling energy prices,” said Stamatelopoulos, who moved to the top of the third-largest German energy company six months ago after the surprising departure of Andreas Schell. It makes sense if the state makes the necessary high investments in the infrastructure supports the phase in which consumption is not yet that high. The Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industry and the consulting firm EY have estimated the investments necessary to achieve the goals of the energy transition by 2035 at more than 1.2 trillion euros. “This is overwhelming all customers, not just industry,” said the 54-year-old. Stamatelopoulos did not want to assess whether a special fund would be necessary to advance the further financing of the energy transition. That is the job of politics. There are a number of suggestions as to how parts of the costs can be spread. “We have to talk about it. For us as EnBW, financing investments in this decade is also a real herculean task.” However, the high financial requirement is undisputed. Climate protection, security of supply and affordability The energy transition must be pushed forward more quickly. There is progress, emphasized the manager. And the share of renewable energies in gross electricity consumption, which has grown to over 50 percent, also shows that it is working. “There are no power interruptions, the system is stable.” Nevertheless, the issue of available power has been neglected for a long time – i.e. power plants that are switched on as needed. For a long time, the focus was primarily on climate protection, which forms a triangle with security of supply and affordability . This fit with the general mood and was not just due to the Greens’ policies. “The Ukraine war did a lot to rediscover the two other dimensions of the energy triangle,” said Stamatelopoulos. “We must neither jeopardize security of supply nor take the issue of affordability lightly.” If the price of electricity becomes too high, this could result in compromises in climate protection, meaning that Germany will only become climate neutral later. “Then it might not work exactly until 2045,” said the CEO. “But we shouldn’t give up on the goal. We have the opportunity to find pragmatic solutions.”Criticism of plans for capacity market According to the EnBW boss, implementation problems are also apparent in the Federal Ministry of Economics’ plans for the future “electricity market design”. By 2028, a mechanism is to be developed so that providers are rewarded for providing so-called controllable power plant capacities to meet demand in times when wind and solar do not provide enough energy. A kind of fire department for the system, he said.More on the subject “Given the time pressure, I can’t understand why we don’t base ourselves on existing and functioning models,” said Stamatelopoulos. “There are role models in the EU.” The European Union has also approved the capacity market in the United Kingdom, which is relatively comparable in structure to the German one. “But again Germany wants to take its own, extremely complicated path,” criticized the CEO. “We accept that it will be more expensive and that it probably won’t be ready in 2028.”
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