The Renewable Heat Act is inflicting tremors within the fuel industry

The enterprise is protecting itself against “era bans” and factors to excessive financial charges.

While the controversial German Heating Act The Austrian counterpart became already determined in the Bundestag two weeks ago Renewable Heat Act (EEC), nonetheless no longer inside reach. What is known about it thus far is already giving representatives of the gasoline industry sleepless nights – they worry a total ban on fuel heating and warn of related funding fees of at least 80 billion euros through 2040.

What makes many German homeowners blush in anger have to function a position version for Austrians, he says Michael Mock Managing Director of the Association of Gas and Heat Supply Companies (FGW) – due to the fact as compared to what's planned in Austria, the German version remains acceptable.

Basic idea in Austria: There are precise and awful technology

“The crucial distinction is that in Germany the focus is solely on the strength source,” said Mock in an interview with the WHAT. “So not on the generation – fuel heating or oil heating or heat pump – however on the power source this is used.” In Germany, you can still installation all forms of heating in new buildings, but you have to show that sixty five percent of the heating is the usage of renewable energy. In Germany, for instance, it will be viable to install mixture gadgets so that it will warmness with herbal fuel or green gasoline for two months inside the iciness and with a heat pump for the relaxation of the 12 months. Existing gas and oil heating structures in Germany are in all likelihood to maintain to operate as before until 2040, however will then must be converted.

The primary concept in Austria, however, is “that during precept there are desirable and bad technology. The bad technologies in this case are fuel heating and oil heating.” According to the Renewable Heat Act, new buildings will now not be allowed to heat with gasoline or oil, although the electricity assets are a hundred percentage renewable, consisting of biogas. This ought to cause weird situations, as an instance if a farmer who produces biogas from waste materials from his own farm isn't allowed to heat his new livestock stable with it, defined Mock.

“We are a massive importer of power within the iciness months”

Households have to then transfer to district heating or heat pumps for heating – even though it does now not matter that district heating is likewise largely generated with herbal gas and heat pumps are operated with strength, a number of which comes from nuclear or coal-fired energy plants.

“You don’t warmth within the summer season, when it’s nice and heat and there’s sufficient hydropower and sun, but within the iciness months. And we've a high and growing demand, however a very low supply of renewables. We’re a huge one Importer of energy,” says Mock. This will no longer alternate despite the fact that one hundred percent of the power consumed in Austria over the year comes from renewable assets.

Potential for biomethane in Austria is around four billion cubic meters according to 12 months

Also the green power spokesman Lukas Hammer spoke to the WHAT essentially in prefer of strength openness: “We will want all technologies in the power transition, together with green gasoline and hydrogen.” But you need to use them effectively. For Hammer it's miles clear that now not enough renewable fuel can be produced to hold to operate fuel heating systems.

The FGW coping with director, who represents the hobbies of producers and vendors inside the location of ​​gas and heat supply, contradicts this: In order which will supply all home gasoline heating structures with a hundred percentage green gasoline, round 250 massive biomethane flowers would be sufficient. The investment expenses for those manufacturing centers could be between 2 and 3 billion euros and might consequently most effective be a fraction of the prices that would be incurred if fuel heating have been banned. The FGW estimates the capability for biomethane in Austria at 4 billion cubic meters in line with yr and for hydrogen from extra Austrian inexperienced electricity at greater than 1.5 billion cubic meters. With these quantities, the call for for domestic gas heating – around 1.6 billion cubic meters – should without difficulty be blanketed, in keeping with the exchange affiliation.

The fee of biogas is presently two times as high as that of herbal gasoline

It is likewise wrong that the existing herbal gasoline pipelines are not suitable for hydrogen, stated Mock. Hydrogen ought to only escape at the relationship points of old pipes. Mock admitted that the generators at the massive pipelines would additionally should be converted to the brand new gasoline.

At round one hundred euros per megawatt hour, the fees of biogas are currently approximately two times as excessive as those of herbal fuel – but you will shop the investment prices of switching to a exceptional heating device, which might be large, says Mock.

 

Funding amounts are only “symbolic”

According to calculations by using the Economica Institute Christian Helmenstein – he is also leader economist of the Association of Industrialists – the EEC could value around 166,000 euros for a unmarried-own family house built inside the Seventies with 111 rectangular meters of residing area that must be converted from gasoline to an air warmth pump, together with all important protection measures. The investment quantities supplied for within the EEC are most effective “symbolic,” says the FGW.

Overall, the fees of banning around 1 million fuel warmers with the aid of 2040 might be as a minimum eighty billion euros, the alternate affiliation factors to calculations by Economica and Ecomove GmbH.