AUDIO: Expert on the future of German gas networks: fewer households, higher costs (6 min)
Fraunhofer Institute
Accessed: July 7, 2026 7:43 am.
Even if the federal government again wants to allow the installation of new gas heating systems: according to the study, the German gas supply network has no future. Energy suppliers will no longer be able to offer competitive gas prices until 2045 at the latest, according to the Fraunhofer Institute.
According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute, the German gas supply network has no future. Energy suppliers “will no longer be able to offer competitive gas prices on realistic terms by 2045 at the latest,” experts said. Thus, by then the gas networks will “in all likelihood” be closed.
Study: Switching to biogas won’t work
According to the institute, the planned switch to biogas will not work because most households are switching to heat pumps or district heating.
Without enough customers, gas network operators will not be able to continue to operate their networks economically, according to the study. “This increases the price of gas for other households.”
Expert: New heating law worsens the problem
Till Irmisch, consultant for energy and municipal climate change at the Munich Environment Institute, told MDR AKTUELL that the study results confirm a long-known trend: gas heating is becoming increasingly expensive.
The reason, among other things, is that more households are leaving the gas network, leaving remaining customers to bear ongoing costs. This could lead to additional costs of several thousand euros per year for the last gas consumers. The new heating law is making the problem worse rather than solving it.
Irmis warned of growing uncertainty as a result of the new law. Many utilities are now considering phasing out gas networks.
Law: New oil and gas heating systems are still possible
The federal government wants to largely repeal the so-called heating law passed by the traffic light government: continued operation and installation of new oil and gas heating systems must remain possible in the long term. To compensate for this, from 2029 newly installed gas and oil heating systems will operate with an increasing proportion of biogas or bio-oil.
However, the availability and affordability of alternative fuels is highly uncertain. The study’s authors explained that anyone installing a gas heater today in hopes of producing biogas “is left with a costly investment ruin.”
ORP, MDR (fef)