Resort: Energy Future

FNB Gas welcomes the efforts made by politicians as part of the 2024 EnWG amendment to strengthen the secure operation of the electricity transmission grid and security of supply.
The amendments, particularly in Section 49a EnWG, provide clear regulations on the reimbursement of costs for protection and security measures in the event of increased network capacity utilization.

in view of the climate targets in the draft “KANU 2.0”.
The TSOs believe that the main objective of this regulation, to ensure the complete refinancing of gas grid investments and to enable flexibility, has been implemented in principle in the draft.

The transmission system operators welcome the fact that the BNetzA is now taking into account the challenges for the useful life of the network infrastructure with the KANU 2.0 specification.

On 25.01. the Federal Network Agency published a key issues paper on the further development of the regulatory framework for electricity and gas network operators in the 5th regulatory period. As a result of the ECJ ruling and the recent amendments to the EnWG, the BNetzA has been given extended powers to lay down regulations. The title of the paper is “NEST: Networks, Efficient, Secure, Transformed”.

The regulations of Part 3a of the EnWG with the requirements on gas storage levels are to be extended until April 2027. This is based in particular on the fact that the onshore LNG terminals are expected to come on stream in mid-2027, from which point a further easing of the supply situation can be expected. The transmission system operators expressly support this approach. It has been shown that the legal regulations are suitable for the safe filling of gas storage facilities in Germany.

The intended amendment to Section 49b (1) Sentence 1 of the German Energy Industry Act (EnWG), which is intended to allow an extension of the temporary higher utilization of the electricity grid until the end of March 2027, is to be expressly welcomed as a measure that makes sense in terms of energy and the economy. Nevertheless, the temporary increase in capacity utilization associated with an acquiescence obligation represents a considerable expense for the TSO, which is not adequately taken into account by law. In the absence of concrete legal regulations, the contractual arrangements between the transmission system operator and the TSO are still subject to various uncertainties (e.g., the extent of the obligation to bear costs). In addition, the short-term approval of the necessary protection and safeguard measures also represents an additional burden for the TSO in the absence of legally manifested acceleration regulations. Therefore, the consequences for the affected operators of technical infrastructures must be given greater focus. The TSOs made concrete proposals for this in the course of the hearing with the associations.

The complete statement of the FNB Gas is available in the downloads.

As part of the adaptation of energy law to EU requirements, the BMWK also intends to make changes to the EnWG to supplement the regulatory regime for hydrogen as an energy carrier. The goal of the new regulations is to rapidly ramp up the hydrogen market to ensure decarbonization, particularly in the highest greenhouse gas emitting sectors of the economy where more energy and cost efficient alternatives to hydrogen are not available.

The TSOs welcome the German government’s initiative to now lay the regulatory, antitrust and network planning foundations for the development of an efficient and expandable hydrogen core network. The regulations are a key step in the development of a Germany-wide hydrogen infrastructure, which should provide market participants with planning and investment security.

The draft bill provides a clear political mandate for the TSOs to develop the supra-regional hydrogen core network, taking into account other infrastructure operators and other infrastructure suitable for transporting hydrogen (at the transmission level) safely. The TSOs have the necessary expertise and are guarantors for the fastest possible development of the German hydrogen network from mainly convertible lines and in the existing private-sector structures.

The German government’s amendment to the Energy Industry Act (EnWG) creates the conditions under antitrust law and planning law for planning the hydrogen core network. For their part, the FNB will do everything in its power to ensure that implementation can begin this year.

However, the draft bill leaves open and unresolved issues such as the financing of the hydrogen core network, which are crucial for the realization of the investments. The corresponding solutions must be developed promptly and introduced into the legislative process in order to ensure the necessary investment security.

The FNB sees a solution to the refinancing problem essentially based on the concept of advance financing of the hydrogen core network by the FNB combined with state risk insurance in the event of failure of the hydrogen ramp-up, which the German Energy Agency (Dena) had already proposed in the summer of 2022. In addition to the dena model, it would be possible to flank the mechanism with a levy or financial transfers from the natural gas system, as is also envisaged in the amendment to the EU gas market package currently being negotiated.

The complete statement of FNB Gas is available in the downloads.

The European Commission presented a reform of the European electricity market on March 14, 2023. As part of the reform, EU legislation such as the Electricity Regulation, the Electricity Directive and the REMIT Regulation are to be revised. In the interest of competitive markets and transparent pricing, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (the ACER) and national regulators should be able to better monitor the integrity and transparency of the energy market in the future. The proposed amendments to the REMIT Regulation are intended in particular to ensure greater data quality and to strengthen ACER’s ability to investigate potential market abuse in cross-border cases.

FNB Gas welcomes in principle the Commission’s intention to better protect consumers and industry from market abuse. In its statement on the proposed amendments to the REMIT Regulation, however, FNB Gas takes a critical view of the planned transfer of competences to the European level and calls for a clearer demarcation between the powers of ACER and the national regulatory authorities. In addition, more transparency in the establishment of new market rules through implementing acts of the European Commission and guidelines and recommendations of ACER is suggested. Market participants should be given the opportunity to participate in the adoption of the aforementioned legal acts through public consultations. Furthermore, for data protection reasons, the proposed expansion of the definition for inside information is critically questioned.

The complete statement of FNB Gas on the amendment of the REMIT Regulation in German and English version is available in the downloads.

The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection has published a draft bill to amend the Energy Industry Act. The reason for this is a ruling by the European Court of Justice in September 2021, according to which the Federal Republic of Germany, by enacting a series of more specific normative regulatory provisions, has violated, among other things, the requirements of Union law on the independence of the regulatory authority under EU law. At the same time, the Act is intended to make other necessary changes to energy law, such as adapting the regulations on the security and reliability of energy supply.

Despite the short consultation period, FNB Gas is pleased to comment on the proposed amendments to the Energy Industry Act. However, due to time constraints, our comments are limited to individually selected regulations that directly affect transmission system operators (TSOs). The FNB also agrees with the statement of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW). This addresses other key points in the current bill where urgent changes are also needed. This relates in particular to the draft’s policy guidance on regulation and requirements for regulatory agency decisions.

The TSOs generally support the political objective of accelerating measures to increase the capacity utilization of the extra-high voltage grid (electricity). However, these new regulations must not be at the expense of other infrastructure operators, such as TSOs, and their protection and safeguarding measures. For this reason, the TSOs welcome the current draft bill on the adaptation of energy industry law to EU requirements, as it represents an important building block for ensuring environmentally compatible energy supply security and for restoring the best possible safety of operating personnel and third parties as quickly as possible. However, in the view of the FNB, the proposed new introduction of Section 49c, in particular the provision in Section 49c(6), is inadequate.

The complete statement is available in the downloads.