The federal government has agreed with the EU Commission on the basic principles of its power-plant strategy to safeguard the energy transition. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, led by Katherina Reiche (CDU), announced this on Thursday evening.
The agreement envisages tenders for electricity generation with a capacity of 12 gigawatts, predominantly for gas-fired power plants. The Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) criticizes that the focus is on fossil electricity generation and climate-friendly alternatives are given too little weight.
To secure the coal exit and ensure energy security, new capacities for the rapid availability of electricity must be created. In the future, electricity should be generated from renewable energy sources.
To ensure that electricity is available even during periods of wind lull and low sunlight, the so-called baseload-capable capacities must exist, with which demand can be quickly met during dark spells. This is undisputed.
Coal Phase-Out Creates Time Pressure
However, there is disagreement about how many gas-fired power plants are required for this. Because there are climate-friendly alternatives. Baseload-capable capacities can, for example, be created through the use of energy storage.
Because the coal phase-out in the Rhenish mining region is to take place as early as 2030, there is time pressure. The bidding for the new power plants is to begin in the summer. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action assumes that the capacities will be available no earlier than 2031. That means that coal-fired power plants will probably stay on the grid or in reserve longer than previously planned.
That could have been avoided. The former Green economy minister Robert Habeck had already agreed with the EU on a power-plant strategy that envisaged a similar scale to the current understanding.
Because the capacities will not be used continuously, but only pointwise, they are state-subsidized. Therefore the EU must approve the plans. Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Reiche had restarted negotiations with the EU. She had originally wanted gas-fired power plants with a capacity of 20 gigawatts. She could not secure that.
Green Hydrogen Not Mandatory
The EU has still not reached agreement on all details; for example, how large new power plants must be at a minimum remains open. In the basics, however, there is an agreement, so preparations for the tenders can begin.
Of the 12 gigawatts of power-plant capacity, two should be technology-open, i.e., can also include alternatives to gas-fired power plants. This is evident from the tender criteria. For 10 gigawatts, the condition is that they generate electricity over a longer period, which excludes storage.
“All power plants built under the power-plant strategy will be hydrogen-ready and will be fully decarbonized by no later than 2045,” the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. By 2040, 2 gigawatts of power-plant capacity should be converted to hydrogen operation, and by 2043, 2 more gigawatts.
If gas-fired plants are operated with so-called green hydrogen, which is produced from renewable energy, they are climate-neutral. The power-plant strategy does not require that the hydrogen come from renewable sources. It can also be produced fossil, so it does not have to be climate-neutral.
The Deutsche Umwelthilfe considers it wrong that the vast majority of tenders are not technology-open. “That is bad news for electricity customers and climate goals,” says the federal managing director Sascha Müller-Kraenner. “There is a risk of unnecessary costs and CO₂ emissions.”
He criticizes that the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action has not presented a timetable for converting gas-fired plants to operate with green hydrogen. “The winners are clearly the large energy companies,” Müller-Kraenner said. They could celebrate that the economy minister has diligently worked through her wish list. “Electricity customers and the climate will be left behind,” he stressed.
