EnBW boss sees public acceptance of the Energiewende at risk

Contents

EnBW CEO Georg Stamatelopoulos believes that public support for the Energiewende is waning precisely because of rising energy costs. There has always been local resistance to local wind turbines, for example. However, the criticism is now becoming more global, he told the German Press Agency. "People don't understand why it all costs money." The statement that solar and wind do not send a bill is correct. "But it can also be misleading."

It is important to explain that the expansion of renewable energies also requires the expansion of grids and decentralized storage facilities, which increases costs. And on the other hand, that there are opportunities for savings – if power lines were laid above ground instead of underground, for example. In his opinion, politicians certainly understand this. The problem, however, 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 – The positive effect of the fact that renewables have no fuel costs only comes into play once they have been built. As the demand for electricity will continue to rise due to electrification in transport and heat supply, infrastructure costs are also spread over a broader base. "This means that we will see falling energy prices in the long term," said Stamatelopoulos, who took over as head of Germany's third-largest energy company six months ago following the surprising departure of Andreas Schell.

It makes sense for the state to support the necessary high investments in infrastructure in the phase in which consumption is not yet so high. The German Association of Energy and Water Industries and the consulting firm EY have put the investment required to achieve the energy transition targets by 2035 at more than 1.2 trillion euros. "This will overburden all customers, not just the industry," said the 54-year-old.

Stamatelopoulos did not want to say whether a special fund was necessary to drive forward the financing of the energy transition. That is a task for politicians. There are a number of proposals as to how parts of the costs can be stretched. "We need to talk about this. Financing the investments in this decade is also a real Herculean task for us at EnBW." However, the high financial requirements are undisputed.

Climate protection, security of supply and affordability

However, the Energiewende must be driven forward more quickly. Progress is being made, the manager emphasized. 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 dispatchable capacity was neglected for a long time –, i.e. power plants that are switched on as required.

For a long time, the focus was primarily on climate protection, which forms a triangle with security of supply and affordability. This was in line with the general mood and was not only due to the policies of the Greens. "The war in Ukraine has done a lot to rediscover the other two 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 were to become too high, this could result in cuts to climate protection, meaning that Germany would only become climate neutral at a later date. "Then it might not work out exactly by 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 CEO, implementation problems are also evident in the plans of the Federal Ministry of Economics for the future "electricity market design". A mechanism is to be developed by 2028 so that providers are rewarded for making so-called controllable power plant capacities available to cover demand at times when wind and sun do not supply enough energy. A kind of fire department for the system, he said.

"Given the time pressure, I can't understand why we don't look to existing and functioning models," said Stamatelopoulos. "There are role models in the EU." The European Union has also approved the capacity market in the UK, which is relatively comparable to the German one in terms of structure. "But once again, Germany wants to take its own, extremely complicated path," criticized the CEO. "In return, we accept that it will be more expensive and that it will probably not be ready in 2028."

(olb)