Energy companies such as Eneco and Vattenfall are no longer allowed to own heat networks. Minister Jetten (Energy, D66) wants the networks to come into public hands (municipalities) from now on. This is evident from a tour of various insiders.
Jetten’s proposal for the new Collective Heat Supply Act is on the agenda of the Council of Ministers for next Friday. With this decision, the minister is responding to the wish of the House of Representatives to keep commercial energy companies, which now own the most grids, at a distance. In the future, they may still own less than 50 percent.
Jetten’s step illustrates the directing role that municipalities will play in making neighborhoods more sustainable. They determine, for example, which neighborhoods will be the first to switch off gas. In 2050, all households must be heated without natural gas, and heat networks play an important role in this. These networks, formerly called district heating, receive their heating from, for example, residual heat from industry, biomass or geothermal heat.
This summer, Jetten already indicated have a preference for ‘public’ property. However, he stipulated that the central role of municipalities should not slow down the pace of the energy transition. The municipalities also had to be able to handle this role. According to the Climate Agreement, half a million new connections to heat networks must be realized by 2030.
A recent study by PwC, initiated by Jetten’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, led to the conclusion that the target of half a million will become practically unattainable if energy companies are no longer allowed to become the dominant owner. According to PwC, municipalities “must significantly expand their capacity and expertise”, which leads to a loss of time.
The municipalities, wrote umbrella organization VNG to the minister in September, want to play an important role in safeguarding ‘public interests’ such as ‘energy fairness and affordability’. This is an extra factor in heat networks, because residents are tied to one supplier for a long time. Because of the required infrastructure, there is always only one provider.
Industry organization Energie Nederland informed the minister in a letter last month that energy companies will no longer invest in heat networks if they cannot become owners.
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