On the initiative of Saarland's Energy Minister Jürgen Barke, he today signed a joint declaration of intent with the transmission system operator Amprion, the Saarland Regulatory Authority, and 27 network operators for further cooperation.
The expansion of renewable energies and demand-oriented grid infrastructures are of outstanding importance for the energy transition and the green transformation. This has impacts on all grid levels. Especially the electricity distribution grids in Saarland are increasingly reaching their capacity limits. Therefore, the electricity transmission and distribution grids must be reinforced and expanded, as well as adapted to the challenges of the energy transition. With our expression of interest, we want to jointly pave the way and support and advance the green transformation of the economy in Saarland from a grid perspective.
Energy Minister Jürgen Barke
The details of the joint declaration of interest can be found here: www.saarland.de/agnetze
The Saarland Ministry of Energy had already established the working group "Networks" (AG Networks) in its current form in December 2022. It is composed of politicians, network operators, and municipal associations, and deals with issues related to synchronizing the expansion of renewable energies and electricity distribution networks in Saarland. Under the chairmanship of the Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy, all stakeholders meet regularly to exchange views on key questions and challenges.
A topic at today's meeting of the Networks Working Group: the medium- and long-term financing of network expansion.
“Above all, the regional electricity distribution grid operators face significant challenges on site with the energy transition: relevant regulatory and financing issues need to be discussed in greater depth at the federal and state levels. The biggest factor is the costs. An amortization account can help stabilize grid fees by bridging the gap between high investment costs and limited income from the grid fees. A fund with state and private capital that secures the debt-financed investments of the grid operators and thus reduces capital costs would also be an option,” said Energy Minister Jürgen Barke.
The cooperation partners of the joint declaration of interest
