August 2024 Vol. 79 No. 8
Features
International report: Germany accelerates plans for energy development
Germany plans to actively accelerate the development and modernization of its underground energy infrastructure in the near future.
Germany – the biggest economy in Europe – has been historically operating one of the world’s most-reliable and well-developed underground energy infrastructure. However, the modern challenges, caused by the end of the era of cheap energy supplies from Russia and the rapid development of renewables’ sector of the country, has forced the federal government to revise several principles of that development.
According to recent comments from experts of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, in order to ensure that the power supply remains secure and affordable, there is a need to build several thousand miles/kilometers of new power lines in the country, which will be connected to its numerous renewable energy sources.
As renewable electricity from wind energy is primarily generated in the north and east of Germany and at sea, the largest electricity consumers – most of the large industrial companies – are located in the south and west of Germany. Due to this, the wind power generated in the north must be transported there.
According to current status, a total of over 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) of the transmission network in Germany will have to be optimized, reinforced or newly built.
Implementation of these plans have a particular importance, since Germany backed off the use of nuclear energy by the decommissioning of its last three nuclear power plants last year.
Modernizing sewer, water
According to DVGW, a recognized standardization body for the gas and water industry, there are also plans for modernization of the country’s water and wastewater infrastructure. The emergence of the water and wastewater network began in Germany in the middle of the 19th century. Since then, the network and its systems have been renewed several times, while their overall length is estimated at 329,000 miles (530,000 kilometers).
As a rule, the German water and wastewater industry invests roughly EUR 4 billion annually. Around two thirds of these investments went directly into the pipe network, primarily in its renovation and renewal.
According to data of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEF), a significant part of these investments was allocated to the construction of new wells or in the restart of old plants.
"Due to climate change, summers are getting hotter and drier. As a result, the demand for drinking water also increases during these phases," explained Martin Weyand, BDEW's general manager for water/wastewater. "In order to ensure that drinking water supplies are available across the board in the future, the water infrastructure in some regions must be strengthened and expanded."
In total, more than 80 billion euros have been invested in Germany's water and wastewater infrastructure since 1990. Of these, only 20 billion euros, went to the eastern German states, which were part of the former communist East Germany until 1990 and where the level of development of water and other underground energy infrastructure was generally lower tthan those in West Germany.
Still, there is a possibility the situation will change, as in the last few years there has been rapid development of such infrastructure in many cities of eastern Germany.
An example is the city of Dresden, the capital city of the German state of Saxony (and one of the major cities of the former German Democratic Republic, which was almost completely destroyed at the end of World War II). The rapidly growing population and industrial sector of the city have forced authorities to design an ambitious strategy for development of water and wastewater infrastructure of the city up to 2038.
Semiconductors
A key focus is dealing with wastewater from the semiconductor industry in the north of Dresden, which is constantly expanding. As chip production generates significant amounts of wastewater, the existing sewage treatment plant in the city’s northern district Kaditz should be expanded in the short-term.
According to the German Gwf-Wasser paper, the project involves the construction of a large-scale North Industrial Collector with the approximately 6.8-mile (11-kilometer) canal. Its construction began in July 2023 and will be used almost exclusively to drain wastewater from the Drezden semiconductor industry. The total investment will extend up to 15 years and cost over 630 million euros, which makes it one of the most expensive projects in Germany’s water sector in the last several years.
According to Dresden's mayor for Environment and Climate, Law and Order, Eva Jähnigen, the project is especially important as its successful implementation will keep wastewater fees in the city of Drezden stable, especially in comparison with other industrial sectors of the city.
Ralf Strothteicher, head of the Drezden municipal sewage company, added “Now it's about making the sewage system future-proof for decades to come. With this project, we have been analyzing for years how our technical infrastructure needs to be expanded in order to cope with population growth and the growth of industry."
Hydrogen, gas pipelines
There are also major plans for the gas pipeline network, caused by the ongoing switch to hydrogen and development of an H2 infrastructure throughout the country.
Barbara Fischer, managing director of the German Association of Transmission System Operators Gas e.V. FNB Gas, told the German Hydrogen Core Network that the system would be about 6,000 miles (9,700 km) long. According to her, in addition to hydrogen, further expansion of the existing pipelines’ network is also planned for the gas sector of the country.
“It is planned, 60 percent of these pipelines will be new-build pipelines and 40 percent of pipelines will be repurposed gas pipelines,” she stated.
As for hydrogen network, the volume of investments in the implementation of these plans are estimated at EUR 19.8 billion. The federal government will initially advance this, but the costs should be recouped through network fees by 2055, at the latest. The first hydrogen is expected to flow through the core network as early as 2025.
“We know that we have no time to lose. The excavators have to roll next year,” explained FNB boss Thomas Gößmann when presenting the optimized plans in November 2023.
The starting signal for a nationwide network could be given in northwest Germany.
The “H2 Start Network 2030” with a length of roughly 750 miles (1,200 km) could be built in NorthRhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony by 2030.
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