German grid operator 50Hertz reports renewables record, plans billions in new investments

The German grid operator 50Hertz reported delivering a record 60 terawatt hours of renewable electricity in 2019, reNews reports. At the same time, the cost of managing such a high share of renewables dropped, the company said. 50Hertz reported that in 2019, renewables supplied some 60 percent of the total electricity demand across the seven northern German states it serves  (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Hamburg, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony), while the cost of congestion management fell to 84 million euros from 134 million euros a year earlier.  Three of those northeastern states - Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt – are expected to continue to generate major electricity surpluses, reNews reports. “Northeastern Germany is increasingly becoming the 'green power station' of the energy transition in Germany,” said chief executive Stefan Kapferer, according to reNews.

50Hertz also plans billions of euros in new investments in the coming years, in large part to handle the increasing share of renewables, reports Klaus Stratmann in the business daily Handelsblatt. The company plans to spend more than 4 billion euros through 2024 to expand its transmission system. Of that, it plans to raise about 750 million euros by issuing a Green Bond. Kapferer also called on the German government to remove hurdles blocking the expansion of renewable energies, saying he would like to see 'quick political decisions,’ Handelsblatt reports.

Re-dispatch costs for grid stabilisation have become a point of concern in a German power system increasingly based on fluctuating renewable energy sources and is expected to become even more challenging as millions of e-cars are plugged to the grid over the next years.