RWE, EnBW, Vattenfall make coal-fired power plants fit for emergencies

Berlin, Dusseldorf The coal companies are preparing in full swing. They are arming themselves in the event that natural gas supplies from Russia fail to materialize. “We check our systems so that we are able to act if the federal government deems such measures necessary,” says a spokesman for the energy supplier RWE.

Specifically, it is about coal-fired power plants that have either already been taken off the grid or are currently only available as a reserve. At the moment there are almost 26 gigawatts (GW) of active coal capacity in the grid. In 2021, coal covered almost 30 percent of electricity demand. Natural gas a little more than ten percent.

If you add the reserves alone, all existing coal-fired power plants could supply a total of over 34 GW for the coming winter – and thus replace at least part of the natural gas supplies from Russia in an emergency.