DÜSSELDORF (dpa-AFX) - According to a new study, the expansion of the electricity grids in Germany required for the energy transition will cost around 651 billion euros by 2045. According to the study by the Institute for Macroeconomics and Business Cycle Research (IMK), which was commissioned by the Hans Bockler Foundation, which has close ties to the trade unions, the annual investment required to date would have to more than double. Investments of around 34 billion euros are needed in the coming years - 127 percent more than the 15 billion euros invested in 2023. Researchers from the University of Mannheim were also involved in the study.

The expansion of the electricity grids is considered to be a crucial building block for achieving climate neutrality in 2045. To this end, the energy requirements of transport, industry and buildings are to be converted to renewable electricity, among other things. In Germany's electricity grids, a distinction is made between the transmission grid, which is responsible for long-distance overland transport, and the distribution grid, which is responsible for regional distribution. While the transmission grid is around 38,000 kilometers long, the distribution grid is around 1.9 million kilometers long. The costs for operation and expansion are passed on to all electricity consumers.

Costs for transmission grid and distribution grid roughly the same

The authors of the study based their calculations on the forecast of the transmission grid operators. They estimate the expansion costs for the transmission grid in the current grid development plan at 328 billion euros. The researchers make their own calculations for the expansion costs in the distribution grid and arrive at an investment requirement of 323 billion euros. By way of comparison, a study by the consulting firm ef.Ruhr estimated the total costs at around 732 billion euros in the spring. In a further step, the authors of the new study want to investigate how the investments can best be financed.

According to the IMK study, the total costs could be even higher. Among the risk factors, the researchers include rising raw material prices, bottlenecks in transformers or lines and delays in approval procedures./tob/DP/mis