German energy grid needs, citizen interests to be weighed carefully - regulator

The need to push ahead with upgrading Germany's energy grid infrastructure must be weighed carefully against the right of citizens to influence planning procedures, the head of the regulatory authority, Klaus Mueller, said on Thursday.

The need to push ahead with upgrading Germany's energy grid infrastructure must be weighed carefully against the right of citizens to influence planning procedures, the head of the regulatory authority, Klaus Mueller, said on Thursday. "Each case is individual, that's why we're going to have to weigh them against legitimate (public) interests," Mueller said in a panel during the annual conference of the utility association BDEW.

Planning processes and permissions have been bogged down for many years in Europe's biggest economy because residents often object to a new infrastructure on their doorstep. The energy transition demands more speed, especially given the need to make the country independent of Russian fossil fuels and usher in a change to clean hydrogen in formerly gas-based systems, Mueller added.