BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The state of Berlin has now also formally declared its interest in taking over Vattenfall's district heating business together with private partners. ES is also concerned with the shares of the Swedish group in the Berlin energy supplier Gasag. Berlin has officially declared its interest in the bidding process in a consortium with the companies Eon and Engie, announced Economics Senator Stephan Schwarz (party-less) and Finance Senator Daniel Wesener (Greens) on Tuesday after the Senate meeting.

Wesener spoke of a - still non-binding - very first step in a "certainly even longer process". A purchase price is not the issue at this stage.

Vattenfall wants to say goodbye to fossil fuels and is putting its district heating business in Berlin to the test. At the beginning of December, the group announced the start of the bidding process, at the end of which it will be decided whether to sell or retain the heating business with 1.3 million household customers. Decisions on this are expected in the course of the year.

Berlin had already declared in October that it wanted to seize the opportunity for at least partial remunicipalization of the district heating network. The state's aim is to have more influence on the supply of gas and district heating in the city and thus on shaping the energy transition away from fossil fuels.

The Senate is seeking a majority stake in Fernwärme and Gasag. According to Schwarz, the plan is for the state to take over Vattenfall's shares in Gasag, in which Eon and Engie already hold stakes. Gasag, in turn, would then take over district heating.

Franziska Giffey (SPD), the governing mayor of Berlin, said that the project was about public services and energy security on the one hand, and climate protection on the other. Alongside transport and mobility, the heat supply in the city is an important factor in answering the question of when Berlin will become climate-neutral.

Schwarz added that for customers, remunicipalization would mean more security of supply and "a bit more price security". In order to achieve the transformation away from fossil fuels, all energy networks - including the power grid - would have to be considered together. A new Gasag could serve as a kind of platform.

The Left Party, in the words of its parliamentary group leaders Carsten Schatz and Anne Helm, is urging Berlin to take over the companies on its own. One expects "at least however the safety device of the company-legal majority of the public hand and the entrepreneurial guidance of Berlin". In addition, there should be no side agreements with the private partners that include a profit guarantee. The district heating supply belongs in municipal hands, she said, to enable a socially just heat turnaround that must not be influenced by private profit-making.

Giffey said that a majority stake for the state was a "condition for success" for the deal being sought, i.e. the prerequisite./kr/DP/men