Senate introduces supplementary budget

View of the natural gas-fired combined heat and power plant in Lichterfelde in the early morning.

The Berlin Senate has introduced a supplementary budget for the planned purchase of the district heating division of the Swedish energy company Vattenfall.

In addition, there is a further authorization to take out loans amounting to 300 million euros for investments in the power grid, which has already been state-owned since 2021. This is why both politicians referred to the package as an "energy budget".

Purchase to be completed by May

The State of Berlin and Vattenfall announced in mid-December that the capital would take over Berlin's district heating business. According to Evers, the purchase, which is to be completed by May, will cost the state around 1.6 billion euros. In addition to the supplementary budget, the Senate submitted a so-called confidential assets bill with details of the deal and the financing concept in connection with the transaction on Tuesday. Both papers will now be discussed further in the House of Representatives, which must ultimately approve the budget and the entire deal. This is expected to happen in March, as Giffey said.