Bavaria's Minister Ilse Aigner at VERBUND's Energy Breakfast, Time for Clear Decisions to be Made Regarding Electricity Market Design
Deputy Minister and Bavarian state Minister for Finance and Media, Ilse Aigner, and Josef Lettenbichler, MP at the National Assembly as well as spokesperson for energy and industry for the ÖVP party, together with Wolfgang Anzengruber, CEO of VERBUND, will hold discussions regarding clear decisions for the electricity market design.
Bavaria's Finance Minister Ilse Aigner's first trip abroad takes her to Austria, she said "Our neighbouring country, Austria, is still the most important trading partner for Bavarian businesses". As part of the energy breakfast, which was organised by VERBUND along with the Bavarian State Ministry and the German Chamber of Commerce, she discussed questions regarding the future design of the electricity market in front of roughly 200 guests, she said: "I welcome the dedication of Austrian businesses to the Bavarian energy infrastructure. This is also a sign that the energy sector promises to be profitable, if the regulatory framework is in place. I am fully committed to further improving this framework and shaping this market economy."
The energy transition presents great challenges to the whole of Europe. Germany and Austria are strongly linked over the same price zone. Price dipping on the market due to high subsidising as well as questions on grid stability and the security of supply concern both countries equally. VERBUND supports the aims of the energy transition to create a future-oriented energy system based on renewable energy sources. Here it is important to consider climate protection and reduction of CO2 as the main goal to focus on.
"For the energy transition to work, we need more cooperation. In Europe and especially between the two neighbouring countries", said VERBUND CEO Wolfgang Anzengruber. "The close cooperation between the two neighbouring countries makes the energy supply more affordable, more secure and more stable", he said.
ÖVP party spokesman for Energy and Industry, Josef Lettenbichler, spoke in favour of greater cooperation: "The alpine region should be seen as one common energy space. In this way, the challenges in energy policy can be better resolved and a future-oriented outlook for energy supply and business location can be developed."
VERBUND in Bavaria
VERBUND has over 22 hydropower plants in Germany at its disposal with around 660 megawatts and an annual production of roughly 4 billion kWh on the rivers Inn and Danube. Thus, the company is the second largest electricity producer from hydropower in Germany and the largest in Bavaria.
