Germany has made the decision to extend the operation of its lignite coal power plants for an additional season, citing concerns over a cold winter and a scarcity of gas supplies. This move comes as a deviation from the coordinated and progressive shutdown of coal-fired power plants, which was originally planned as part of Germany's transition to cleaner energy sources. In exchange for their continued operation, these coal plants were to receive a share of the government's €40 billion ($42.1 billion) coal phase-out fund.
In 2022, German coal plants were kept operational to ensure a stable energy supply. The conflict in Ukraine disrupted Germany's usual gas imports from Russia, while issues in France's nuclear industry ruled out an expected alternative power source.
In response to these challenges, the German government passed two decrees in September 2022. One decree extended the operation of significant hard coal-fired power generation plants until March 31, 2024, while the other provided 1.9GW of power capacity generated from domestically mined brown coal.
This week, the government announced its intention to continue this policy, maintaining an additional 1.9GW of lignite coal-fired capacity alongside Germany's existing 45GW of coal power plants. The primary objective of this decision is to ensure energy prices remain stable during the upcoming winter and to prevent excessive depletion of gas reserves.
The government stated, “The supply reserve will be reactivated in order to save gas in electricity generation and thus prevent supply bottlenecks with gas in the 2023/2024 heating period.”
