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Reliable supply of electricity guaranteed

Can the demand for electricity in Germany be met going forward, or is there a possible threat of bottlenecks? That this question must increasingly be seen and answered in a regional context is highlighted by two recent publications. These show: a reliable supply on the German electricity market is guaranteed at the highest level in the years to come.

First security-of-supply report by the Pentalateral Energy Forum

The time horizon of the prognosis in the first security-of-supply report presented by the "Pentalateral Energy Forum" stretches into the year 2021: it corroborates the analyses by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) that conclude that, both at the present time and up to 2020/2021, no bottlenecks are to be expected in the electricity supply in Germany.

In the Pentalateral Forum, founded in 2005, the regulatory authorities, grid operators, power exchanges and other market players from the Benelux countries, Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland work together under the chairmanship of the competent ministries to promote the integration of the regional electricity markets. For the first time ever, the report looked at the combined generation capacities in the electricity sector and also took mutual influences within the internal market into account. A major benefit of the internal market: experience shows that peak demand for electricity in the various countries does not occur at the same time, so that electricity from neighbouring countries can make a significant contribution to meeting domestic demand in others.

Baake: new approaches for greater flexibility in the electricity market

Rainer Baake, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy: "The first joint security-of-supply report is a milestone on the way to a more deeply integrated and better functioning internal market for electricity and thus above all for ensuring a reliable supply across national borders. In view of the great challenges involved in making the electricity market more flexible, we need to get together more in regional clusters to agree on new approaches for solutions."

The report by the Pentalateral Energy Forum provides an important basis for a uniform definition and joint monitoring of the security of supply in Europe. The transmission grid operators have agreed in intensive discussions on common assumptions and methodological approaches. In its recent deliberations on the Energy Union, the European Commission, too, welcomed efforts to measure and guarantee energy security at the regional rather than just at the national level.

BMWi expertise sets standards with a new calculation method

An even longer-term perspective, that is to say until 2025, is taken in an experts' opinion report commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and published in mid-March on security of supply in Germany and neighbouring countries. This report puts the probability of being able to meet the demand for electricity in Germany at all times up to 2025 at nearly 100 percent – the highest level even in an international comparison. The basis of the expertise is a new calculation method that also maps the effects of cross-border power exchange. The experts' report thus establishes new benchmarks for monitoring and evaluating the security of supply. The report shows that security of supply must be seen at the European level, State Secretary Rainer Baake emphasised. "It also spotlights the importance of European and regional co-operation in electricity market matters."