Part of the German natural gas market is supplied with low-calorific natural gas (L-gas). The L-gas is produced from reserves in Germany and in the Netherlands. The production of L-gas from reserves in Germany is steadily declining. Moreover, Gasunie Transport Services B.V. (GTS), the Dutch transmission system operator, has also announced that export volumes from the Netherlands to Germany will progressively decrease from 2020 onwards.
Against this background, over the next few years, the grid regions that are currently still being supplied with L-gas will have to be gradually converted to H-gas in order to secure the supply of natural gas in the medium and long term.
The decision as to which grid areas will be converted and when this will happen will be made in consultation with the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur, BNetzA) as part of the process of preparing the network development plan (NDP) for gas. The distribution system operators as well as the end users directly connected to the grid that are affected by the conversion will be successively integrated, by Thyssengas GmbH, into the relevant processes in order to jointly plan the conversion process at an early stage and enable on-schedule implementation of the conversion.
Conversion plan
A detailed allocation of the network points to the conversion areas together with their conversion dates can be found in the Gas NDP database (in German only): www.nep-gas-datenbank.de
Binding announcements of the areas to be converted
This is where all the conversion areas are shown that have already appeared in binding announcements; these will moreover be updated by the transmission system operators on a quarterly basis.
Information on dependencies between the conversion areas as well as the months currently planned for the technical conversions are likewise included (in German only): www.fnb-gas.de
Reimbursement of costs in accordance with section 19a(3) of the Energy Industry Act (Energiewirtschaftsgesetz, EnWG)
Under Section 19a(3) EnWG, owners of customer installations or gas consuming appliances who have proper proof of use would be entitled to a refund of €100 if a conversion is no longer necessary because the owners of these customer installations or gas consuming appliances have decided to install a new appliance. The prerequisite for this is that proper proof of use is provided for the customer installation or consumer appliance and that the installation is carried out after the publication of the conversion date on our website but before the adjustment of the appliance as part of the gas quality conversion.
In the event that no new appliance is installed, the costs recognised as necessary for the adaptation of the appliances will be reimbursed within the framework of the regulations on the market area conversion charge.
