In Oranienburg the power grid is at its limit. According to the Federal Network Agency, the city reacted far too late to the growing demand for electricity - short-term solutions are now required.
Oranienburg/Bonn - The Federal Network Agency attributes the power grid bottleneck in the city of Oranienburg to failures in planning and is calling for quick solutions. The increased electricity requirement was recognized far too late and was therefore communicated to the upstream network operator, Edis Netz GmbH, too late. The municipal utilities confirmed this, the authorities in Bonn announced on Wednesday. The city of Oranienburg in Berlin's suburbs, which has been growing for years, can no longer provide new power connections due to capacity bottlenecks at the substation.
Authority: Planning delayed by years
“The imposed connection stop is due to the pleasing, strong growth of the city of Oranienburg in combination with planning by the Oranienburg public utility company that was years late. “The problem is due to the individual situation on site,” said the Federal Network Agency, which has been involved in clarifying the events in the Brandenburg city. More heat pumps and charging stations for electric cars play a minor role in the increased demand for electricity; it is mainly due to industry, commerce and new development areas in the city.
Oranienburg Mayor Alexander Laesicke (independent) admitted omissions. He told the rbb: “We are currently assuming that this need could have been recognized earlier and should have acted accordingly.” The Berlin power grid, for example, ruled out a situation like in Oranienburg with around 48,000 inhabitants for the capital.
Ministry of Economic Affairs: Citizens cannot wait for a new substation
The Federal Network Agency now called on the municipal utilities and the Edis company to find “immediate, short-term solutions” in order to quickly enable new power connections again. The Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Economics, Michael Kellner (Greens), also said: “The citizens of Oranienburg cannot wait for the substation, which is planned far too late. There is enough electricity, the municipal utilities have to ensure that it arrives.” A new substation that the municipal utilities are building is expected to go into operation in 2026.
Federal Network Agency wants to improve forward-looking planning
The Federal Network Agency pointed out how important forward-looking network planning is. This should be better organized in the future. Larger network operators such as Eon and Edis will have to submit their plans to the Federal Network Agency in the future - for the first time at the end of April, as a spokesman for the Federal Network Agency said.
The city of Oranienburg mentioned the use of a temporary replacement substation or the use of gas turbines to supply electricity in the municipal utility network as options for interim solutions that are being examined. If no effective steps are taken to remedy the situation, the Federal Network Agency can also order measures and deadlines, as it announced. If these are not followed, in extreme cases you may face fines and penalty payments. dpa