Climate protection contracts with companies: The Habeck Green Deal

BERLIN bald | At Tesa in Hamburg, adhesive applied to tapes is still dried using gas-powered steam boilers, which emit large amounts of climate-damaging CO.₂ get rid of But that is changing: Tight replacing the boilers with electricity or hydrogen-powered models, which are climate neutral. The federal government is reducing the risk that the costs will be much higher than they were with previous production.

The adhesive roll manufacturer, which wants to be climate neutral by 2030, is one of the 15 companies with which the Federal Ministry of Economy has concluded the first climate protection contracts. “The good thing about it is security by design,” said Tesa manager Thomas Erfurth.

By 2045, the German industry should Adjust to neutral. To support this transformation, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has developed climate protection agreements. The idea: Companies should be relieved of cost risks when they change production. You bid in an auction process. Whoever has the least money CO₂-Emissions avoid getting the contract. On Tuesday, Federal Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) presented the funding announcements in Berlin. “We’re killing two birds with one stone,” Habeck said at the motion. “We are reducing emissions in the high energy sector and making the place more attractive.”

The companies have committed to reducing CO₂ to put out. You only get money when this is true. The contracts have a term of 15 years. The amount of money the companies receive depends on the development of energy prices. If fossil energy is more expensive than renewable energy in the future, even money should flow back to the state.

Poor placement of a candidate in the first round

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the projects are expected to generate up to 17 million tons of CO₂– Equities are released less. For comparison: About 673 million tons of CO were released in Germany in 2023₂– Equally distributed. However, the charm of this funding is less in the direct impact of the projects than in the improvements they initiate. A company that abandons fossil production methods also causes changes among suppliers and customers.

Of the 17 applications submitted, the Ministry of Economic Affairs awarded 15 projects. You will receive up to 2.8 billion euros in funding. The fact that only 17 companies have expressed interest may also reflect the difficult state of the economy. A second round of applications with 130 applications has already started. According to the ministry, a low double-digit amount is available for this. The money comes from there Climate and adaptation funds.

The projects are based in energy-intensive industries such as the glass or construction industries. Chemical giant BASF has concluded a climate protection agreement for the production of climate-neutral formic acid. “This is the greenest formic acid on the world market,” says Ludwigsburg plant manager Uwe Liebelt. “The climate protection agreement helps us set a competitive price.” Companies like BASF have a lot of money. You invest, but only in projects that promise to be profitable quickly.

From the point of view of many managers, the climate neutral switch is a big risk because it is not clear how the prices of green electricity or hydrogen will improve. If this threat is taken away from them, things will look different. This is the case with the company H&R Chemical-Pharmaceutical Specialties. The company makes intermediate products for industry, such as lubricants. She wants a solution switch from natural gas to electricity. “Without additional funding, we could not implement environmentally friendly measures in a competitive way,” says manager Detlev Wösten. The company emits more than 100,000 tons of CO per year₂ out of. In the future it should be 15,000 tons less per year.

Only technological innovations are supported

Only projects that bring technological innovations, such as the Wienerberger brick manufacturer, are supported. “We use a different heating fuel, use less energy and change the product,” explained technical director Burkhard Theuerkauf. The company is building a new oven at the Hude-Kirchkimmen plant between Bremen and Oldenburg.

To make clinker bricks or paving stones, shaped clay is taken through ovens up to 170 meters long, which are heated to more than 1,000 degrees. Until now this has been done with gas. The new oven will be powered by electricity or hydrogen from October 2027, according to a climate protection agreement with the Ministry of Economic Affairs. This should reduce the emissions of 95 to 98 percent of the CO released today₂ be prevented The rest comes from the clay.

For the new oven, Wienerberger is working with a company for which this is also a new area. It can be valuable to them too. Wienerberger has 23 plants in Germany with one to three ovens. The climate-friendly conversion is a big challenge, says director Theuerkauf. At least the first project was fine-tuned: “We can participate in energy transfer without additional risk.”