energate Gasmarkt Issue 04|2024

The topic of the month in the last issue was an interview with Benjamin Lakatos, CEO of the Swiss MET Group. In the editorial, I announced the following interview: "Among other topics we discussed, he makes very ambitious and confident statements about the group's growth targets in Germany. For Mr Lakatos, a stake in Sefe is not out of the question. But read all about it for yourself". If you, dear reader, have read the interview, you will have noticed that the company name Sefe is not mentioned. Benjamin did not mention the name in the interview either. He only said: "If the state wants to sell its newly acquired holdings and there is a bidding competition, we are ready". Reducing this to Sefe was solely my interpretation. As my statement has confused market participants, the MET Group feels it is important to clarify. It is also correct.

Now to the current edition. The chapter on framework conditions contains detailed reports on the carbon management strategy, the climate protection agreements and the amendment to the 37th Federal Immission Control Ordinance Provision (BImSchV). These are not really gas issues. However, the possibility of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the promotion of hydrogen as well as the use of CCS as part of the climate protection agreements are to some extent decisive for the potential of molecular energy sources in a decarbonised energy world and their market development. These are therefore important developments in the framework conditions. The publications made at the beginning of February and the beginning of March represent a starting point. However, implementation will be crucial. It has also been recognised regarding other topics that the difficulties lie at this level of implementation.