Industry warns of delay in construction of new gas-fired power plants
The energy industry is warning of the consequences of a delay in the planned construction of hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants. The head of Germany's third-largest energy company EnBW, Andreas Schell, told "Der Spiegel": "If the power plant strategy does not come soon, Germany will not be able to phase out coal by 2030." The municipal utilities association VKU warned that any further postponement of the power plant strategy already announced for this summer must be avoided.
A spokeswoman for Economics Minister Robert Habeck said on Friday that the power plant strategy was still being developed. It should be presented as soon as possible. With regard to the Karlsruhe budget ruling, she said that everything was connected. It was a far-reaching ruling. The ministry was sticking to its goal of building hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants.
Following the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, there is a large gap in the federal government's finances. The court had declared the reallocation of coronavirus loans of 60 billion euros from the 2021 budget to the Climate and Transformation Fund null and void. This is used to finance climate protection projects.
Power plants for "dark doldrums"
The German government is relying on renewable energies from wind and solar power to restructure the electricity system - but hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants are to be built for "dark doldrums". Habeck had announced state subsidies that are likely to be in the billions.
EnBW wants to phase out coal-fired power generation in 2028 and is building three new gas-fired power plants that will also generate hydrogen in the future. "Without planning security, we will not be able to make any further investment decisions," Schell told Der Spiegel.
Ingbert Liebing, Managing Director of the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU), said that the power plant strategy is the central building block for a successful and efficient energy transition by securing the future power supply with flexible power plants. "Otherwise, we face a supply shortfall or the coal phase-out cannot take place as planned." Without a power plant strategy, the risk for investors would be too high and investments would initially fail to materialize. In the worst-case scenario, none of the power plants required for 2030 would be connected to the grid.
Together with the energy company RWE, politicians had agreed to phase out coal eight years earlier in 2030 for the Rhineland coalfield. No such agreement has been reached for the coal regions in Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.
- The federal government is considering the role of hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants in addressing "dark doldrums" in the electricity system, while relying heavily on renewable energies from wind and solar power.
- The Energy and Climate Ministry is still developing the power plant strategy, which aims to build hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants, and plans to present it as soon as possible, acknowledging the financial implications of the Karlsruhe budget ruling.
- The delay in constructing new gas-fired power plants capable of producing hydrogen could impact the federal government's ability to meet its climate goals, as warned by the industry, as Germany seeks to phase out coal by 2030.
- Alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power, should be supplemented with efficient and flexible gas-fired power plants to maintain a stable energy supply, as suggested by Ingbert Liebing, Managing Director of the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU).
Source: www.dpa.com
