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Market & Industry 12/02/2025, 17:55
The energy industry meets at E-world in Essen.
(Image: Messe Essen)

E-world Ticker 2025

Essen - Every year at the E-world trade fair, energy suppliers, energy service providers and IT companies announce new cooperations or products. Our ticker provides an overview of the trade fair news.
Politics 12/02/2025, 17:14
The EU Commission wants to make Europe's companies more competitive again.
(Image: EC - Audiovisual Service)

EU Commission presents its work programme for 2025

Strasbourg - EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Maros Sefcovic has presented the EU Commission's work programme for 2025 to the plenary session of the EU Parliament. However, a new renewable energy target for 2040 is not planned.
Gas & Heat 12/02/2025, 16:42
The vibrotrucks were already on the road in Münster.
(Image: Stadtwerke Münster)

Münster and Ulm invest in seismic measurements

Münster/Ulm - Two municipal utilities in Germany are focussing on geothermal energy to make district heating climate-neutral. Extensive measurements in Münster and Ulm are bringing the utilisation of deep ground closer.
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Politics

Politics 12/02/2025, 15:26
According to the DIW, the coalition government has exceeded its solar energy target for the end of 2024.
(Image: Pixabay)

DIW warns against "stop-and-go" energy policy

Berlin - The German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) has given the coalition government a favourable report card on energy policy, stating that it is better than its reputation, but adding that there is still room for improvement. It says that a possible slowing down of the energy and heat transition after the change of government would be harmful.
Politics 12/02/2025, 14:07

Agora in favour of combining contracts for difference and PPAs

Berlin - An amendment to the EEG subsidisation scheme is on the cards. The think tank Agora Energiewende proposes financing wind and solar energy with contracts for difference and PPAs. The aim is to secure investors and reduce electricity costs for consumers.
Politics 12/02/2025, 13:20

Trianel wants a quick decision on the EEG reform

Essen - After the elections, the new German government must quickly turn its attention to refinancing renewables. This is the view of the municipal utility cooperation Trianel. There is not much time left before the EEG subsidisation expires.
Politics 11/02/2025, 11:01

Danish-German hydrogen pipeline coming after all

Berlin - The future of the hydrogen pipeline from Jutland in Denmark to Germany was uncertain for a long time. The responsible transmission system operator Energinet announced massive delays and a reassessment last autumn. Now the project is to be realised after all.
Politics 10/02/2025, 15:33

Election check: Need for grid fee reform undisputed

Berlin - Just under two weeks before the general election, almost 4,300 participants have completed the energate election check. Among them, the demand for a reform of grid fees is undisputed. There is less unanimity on the issue of an electricity price zone split.
All news in the rubric Politics

Market & Industry

Market & Industry 12/02/2025, 16:10
The Energy Traders Deutschland association (formerly Efet) has formulated a number of expectations for the coming government.
(Image: European Energy Exchange AG)

Energy traders: Filling level specifications have had their day

Essen - Germany's energy traders believe the energy crisis is over. For the industry association Energy Traders Germany, the time has come to abolish the filling level requirements to protect against a gas shortage. On the electricity side, traders are continuing to drum up opposition to an electricity price zone split and are hoping for speed in the power plant strategy.
Market & Industry 12/02/2025, 15:18

'Deutsche Speicherwerke' enters the market

Chemnitz - The boom in the battery storage market is attracting new players. DSW Deutsche Speicherwerke GmbH, based in Chemnitz, has started selling scalable storage solutions.
Market & Industry 12/02/2025, 12:42

"CCS at gas-fired power plants may be a storm in a teacup"

Berlin - The decarbonisation of the industry is threatening to stall - important laws such as the so-called CCS Act have been delayed. energate spoke to Frauke Eustermann and Luisa Keßler from the environmental organisation Bellona Deutschland about the prospects for CCS/CCU, hydrogen and green lead markets.
Market & Industry 11/02/2025, 16:55

BP announces "fundamental" course correction

London - The British oil company BP has had an eventful 2024 financial year with a significant drop in profits. CEO Murray Auchincloss is using the presentation of the latest consolidated financial statements to announce a "fundamental" change of course. The top priority: Economic performance in the interests of shareholders.
Market & Industry 11/02/2025, 15:00

No reduction in installed renewables expected

Essen - At the opening of E-world, BDEW, the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Amprion and Westenergie made it clear that the capacity already installed from renewables would hardly dwindle even with a change of government. There were also calls for a reserve strategy.
All news in the rubric Market & Industry

Power

Power 12/02/2025, 15:51
The switch to 15-minute products makes electricity trading more complicated.
(Image: Epex Spot)

Fifteen-minute trading: Opportunity and challenge

Essen - From next June, the Epex Spot will be traded every 15 minutes on the day-ahead market. This is the exchange's response to the increasingly volatile feed-in from renewables. There is approval from the industry, but certain concerns were voiced at the E-world trade fair.
Power 12/02/2025, 14:05

"The intraday auctions provide additional liquidity"

Essen - From June, there will be cross-border electricity trading with quarter-hour contracts. energate spoke about this with Kora Töpfer from Epex Spot. In the interview, she also explained what measures the exchange has taken to prevent renewed market decoupling and how the market for guarantees of origin could develop.
Power 12/02/2025, 13:11

Axpo and RWZ develop solar parks in Germany

Baden (Switzerland) - The Swiss company Axpo and Raiffeisen Waren-Zentrale Rhein-Main AG (RWZ) want to jointly develop solar parks in Germany. While RWZ will approach landowners and negotiate contracts, Axpo will take over the planning, construction and operation of the plants.
Power 11/02/2025, 14:55

Eon and PSI want to modernise network control

Berlin - The energy group Eon and the software manufacturer PSI are planning a comprehensive modernisation of the grid control system in Germany. The aim is to create a standardised control system by 2029 that will increase efficiency and facilitate the integration of renewable energies.
Power 11/02/2025, 10:00

Amprion CEO: Redistribute grid investment costs "fairly"

Dortmund - Christoph Müller is the new CEO of Amprion. To mark his start at the helm of Germany's second-largest transmission system operator, he is joining the debate on the grid fee reform. His plea: There needs to be more fairness in the distribution of grid investment costs for the energy transition.
All news in the rubric Power

Gas & Heat

Gas & Heat 12/02/2025, 15:00
Energy suppliers such as Stadtwerk Haßfurt are preparing for the use of H2 in CHPs.
(Image: Institut für Energietechnik)

No breakthrough for KWKG and H2 power plants

Essen - The latest amendment to the Combined Heat and Power Act does not bring any ground-breaking changes for the industry, but does provide a slight incentive for ongoing projects. Whilst technical preparations for hydrogen in CHP plants or gas-fired power stations are progressing, the question of economic viability remains.
Gas & Heat 12/02/2025, 13:18

Green hydrogen slightly cheaper again

Bonn - Conventional hydrogen has recently become more expensive. However, the production costs for green hydrogen are falling slightly, according to the Hydex index published by management consultancy E-Bridge.
Gas & Heat 12/02/2025, 10:03

Natural gas grid: New ways of separating hydrogen

Haßfurt - The public utility Stadtwerk Haßfurt is working on being able to utilise the natural gas grid as a hydrogen storage facility. In order to subsequently utilise the hydrogen in fuel cells, it must be as pure as possible. A special process is used for this in Haßfurt, about which energate spoke to Norbert Zösch, managing director of Stadtwerks Haßfurt.
Gas & Heat 11/02/2025, 16:00

Kassel wants to significantly expand district heating

Kassel - Kassel is planning a massive expansion of its district heating grid: Up to 45,000 households are to benefit from a decarbonised heat supply in future. The city is investing almost 1 billion euros in climate-neutral energy from waste and wood incineration.
Gas & Heat 11/02/2025, 12:39

Industry relies on gas-fired power plants and long-term imports

Essen - The gas and hydrogen industry sees three key tasks for a new German government following the election. Although the gas market stabilised in 2024, this is not enough to ensure security of supply and competitive prices.
All news in the rubric Gas & Heat