The coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD in 2013 called for using renewable energy power, which is lost when there is a bottleneck in the network, for example in heating. This makes sense economically, because otherwise clean energy, which is available at marginal costs near zero, remains unused. In addition, the share of renewable energy in the heating sector can be raised.
The applicable technology power-to-heat, has until now rarely been employed in Germany for this purpose, despite comparatively low investment costs. The case of Denmark, however, shows that power-to-heat can be used on a large scale and that it contributes to making combined heat and power plants and district heating more flexible in meeting the demands of a power system dominated by fluctuating renewable energy.
We have therefore commissioned a consortium of institutes to examine the potential use of power-to-heat and to make recommendations.