Implementation of §13k EnWG “Switchable loads” for the energy transition?

§13k in the EnWG was passed in the Bundestag in autumn 2023. This paragraph has the great potential to translate the economic benefits of sector coupling technologies into concrete investments. We are also committed to this. The core idea of the paragraph is to make otherwise curtailed renewable electricity usable for other sectors such as hydrogen.

With the current implementation proposal from the transmission system operators, only projects that will be built anyway will be able to tap into a small additional source of income. However, from our point of view no new projects are being constructed because of §13k. Therefore, the sector coupling technologies continue to remain far behind their potential. In our view, the proposed implementation contradicts the Bundestag’s intention in its decision last autumn, and we hope for a better implementation.

Here is our detailed positioning on the current debate.