With the energy transition, municipal utilities are also facing a mammoth task. The necessary investments are huge and their realization will be a stress test for their structures. This is where the private sector can help. "Support for municipal utilities is provided in particular by those private players in the energy transition who not only have expertise in project development, but also in the structuring and financing of projects," comments Markus W. Voigt, CEO of the aream Group.

Municipal utilities have always played a central role in supplying the population and companies with electricity and heat. However, the energy transition poses enormous challenges for their structures - in all relevant sectors and in sector coupling. By 2030, municipal utilities alone will need to invest an additional 600 billion euros in the energy transition. Participating in green power generation appears to be a mammoth task alongside the mandatory heat planning. 

"The municipal utilities will not be able to manage the energy transition on their own," says Voigt. "The municipalities will not be able to provide billions in equity capital." This is where the private sector comes into play. On the one hand, private investors can manage the financing of the projects. On the other hand, they can contribute their expertise in project realization: companies that also act as project developers can relieve the burden on municipal utilities in their structures. "This frees up capacity at the municipal utilities so that they can concentrate on their original task and the additional task of the heating transition," explains Voigt. 

Sustainable cooperation between municipal utilities and private investors can therefore mean a win-win situation: municipal effectiveness for the municipal utilities and local authorities and acceptance of the renewable energy projects for the investors. "The municipal utilities can promote the energy transition locally and gain the approval of the population," says Voigt. This alone increases the value of the projects. "This potential must be unleashed."