Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz has defended the planned partial sale of the electricity network operator Transnet BW against sharp criticism. The Greens politician said on Wednesday in the Stuttgart state parliament: “The prime minister said it: The shares of Transnet will not come under the influence of China or Qatar or the Saudis or any such regime.” In addition, the energy group EnBW remains the majority shareholder. Control over the company is contractually secured and the influence of the public sector is secured.
According to Bayaz, the state bank KfW has a right of first refusal for a 24.95 percent stake. An investor is currently being sought for the second share. According to reports, the Savings Banks Association of Baden-Württemberg is interested. Transnet’s high-voltage grid, which is more than 3,000 kilometers long, is one of a total of four transmission grids in Germany. More wind power is to be transported from the north to the south on these electricity highways. They perform a task that is crucial for energy security and are important for the transformation of industry in Baden-Württemberg, which depends on “green” electricity.
Bayaz said that the inclusion of investors in Transnet would relieve financial pressure on EnBW – in which the state and the Zweckverband Oberschwaebische Elektrizitätswerke (OEW) each hold 46.75 percent. The opposition SPD parliamentary group leader Andreas Stoch said that anyone who comes up with the idea of handing over such an important piece of infrastructure must first prove that this is absolutely necessary.
The FDP MP Frank Bonath said that in order to supply the wind-weak Baden-Württemberg with electricity in a crisis-proof and climate-friendly manner, the expansion of the transmission grids is essential. “The now planned partial privatization of Transnet BW can give new impetus to network expansion and finally end the green-black standstill.”
The CDU MP Ulli Hockenberger was open to partial privatization. However, the infrastructure surrounding the energy supply must remain in the public domain. The discussion is reminiscent of the repurchase of the EnBW stake by the state under the then Prime Minister Stefan Mappus at the turn of the year 2010/2011. At that time, the country acquired EnBW shares worth almost five billion euros from the French energy company EDF – without informing the state parliament and without the constitutionally required examination by the Ministry of Finance. The deal was subsequently ruled illegal by the country’s constitutional court.
State Parliament printed matter on Transnet BW
