A substation at sunrise
Source: Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB/Symbolbild
Electricity consumption is increasing, but reliable power plants are gradually being shut down. A study shows that Germany will soon no longer be able to cover its peak loads itself. The Federal Network Agency recently presented this in a completely different way.
NAccording to calculations by the consulting firm McKinsey, Germany will soon no longer be able to cover its electricity needs on its own at peak times. Accordingly, there is a risk of a supply gap of 4 gigawatts as early as 2025, which will increase to 30 gigawatts by 2030. “We are thus heading towards a significant shortfall: a capacity of 30 gigawatts corresponds to around 30 large thermal power plants,” says McKinsey’s explanation of the new “Energy Transition Index”. WELT AM SONNTAG was able to take a look at the calculations in advance.
“Overall, supply gaps will occur almost 100 times in 2030,” says the analysis by the authors around McKinsey energy expert Thomas Vahlenkamp. Around half of the undersupplied phases last less than five hours. “The longest phase lasts about 21 hours.”
“Germany was a leader for a long time when it came to secure electricity supply,” is how the authors of the study sum up: “It is now clear to all electricity users: “Leadership was yesterday.” in the energy transition is measured using 15 criteria.
McKinsey’s results are in clear contradiction to the report “Security of Supply for Electricity” prepared by the Federal Network Agency and approved by the Federal Cabinet at the end of January. It said that the power supply would be secure even if the coal phase-out was brought forward to 2030. McKinsey considers the assumption that the federal government will be able to build new gas-fired power plants with a capacity of up to 21 gigawatts by 2030 to be particularly questionable.
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