Energy - Berlin buys district heating network from Vattenfall
The state of Berlin is taking over the capital's district heating network from Swedish energy supplier Vattenfall. Both sides agreed on a purchase by the Berlin Senate, announced the Governing Mayor, Kai Wegner (CDU), and Vattenfall on Tuesday. Regarding the purchase price, Finance Senator Stefan Evers (CDU) said, "We will ... settle at 1.6 billion euros". The Senate will present the financing concept to the House of Representatives in the first quarter. The transaction will be completed in spring 2024.
Wegner spoke of a historic day for Berlin. Senator for Economic Affairs Franziska Giffey (SPD) said, "We are bringing the heat home, we are bringing the heat back into Berlin state hands". However, the purchase is still subject to the approval of the Berlin House of Representatives. The deal also includes an option to acquire Vattenfall's shares in gas network operator Gasag.
In May 2022, Vattenfall announced that it was reviewing its district heating business for 1.4 million apartments in Berlin. The Berlin Senate then expressed its interest in buying the company and took part in the bidding process, which Vattenfall began in early December 2022. At the end of October this year, the Senate and Vattenfall entered into exclusive negotiations.
For years, the Berlin state government has been working on keeping all energy and supply infrastructure in public hands. The electricity and water networks already belong to the state, and now the district heating network is being added. The gas network, on the other hand, will remain private for the foreseeable future.
Vattenfall wants to move away from fossil fuels and has put its district heating business in Berlin to the test. However, a final decision on a sale was still pending. Nevertheless, the company recently announced investments of 200 million euros in the network. Both an industrial heat pump and a new steam turbine are to be installed at the Reuter West site.
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Source: www.stern.de
