“Government plans speedy reform of the power market”

The acting German government is planning a quick reform of the power market even before the new government coalition is formed, Andreas Mihm writes in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The reason is concerns that the EU might force German transmission grid operators to split the country into two power trading zones, Mihm says. This “imminent danger” means the acting government now wants to pass a law to manifest the German power market as inseparable. A split would lead to lower power prices in the North, where more renewable power capacity is located, and higher ones in the South. A lack of north-south grid connections means excess power from the North can often not be transferred to the South, where large industrial consumers are concentrated.

Read a CLEW article about the advent of the power market debate here and a factsheet on loop flows here.