Berlin In view of growing doubts about the reliability of Russian gas supplies, coal-fired power plants are taking on a new significance. The prime ministers of the eastern German states with lignite mining areas are campaigning to reconsider the timeline for phasing out coal. Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) told the RBB against the background of the Ukraine war that one had to think “whether the timeline for the coal phase-out in 2030 is real”.
Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) told the “Sächsische Zeitung” that the decisions to phase out coal or nuclear power would have to be discussed again. You have to “put the blinkers aside when it comes to lignite and nuclear,” says Kretschmer.
Reiner Haseloff (CDU) is even clearer. The Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt told the “Welt” with a view to the objective of Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) and the traffic light coalition to completely phase out coal-fired power generation by 2030: “Under the given conditions, it will now probably be waste.” In the current situation, he considers it irresponsible to want to shut down German coal-fired power plants quickly.
Doubts are also growing in NRW. NRW Economics Minister Andreas Pinkwart (FDP) recently told the Handelsblatt that the double exit from coal and nuclear power had given Germany “a cluster risk that we have to work our way out of”. When looking for alternatives, it is important to examine all options. However, NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst limits the considerations. He said on Tuesday that a coal exit in 2030 is still possible despite the uncertainties caused by the Ukraine war.
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Wüst and Pinkwart are pointing the way to a compromise: One could try to stick to the phase-out date of 2030, but slow down the shutdown of coal-fired power plants over the next three to five years. After that she could start driving again.
Becoming independent of Russian gas supplies takes time
Experts assume that it may take up to five years before future gas supply is diversified and secured. The coal-fired power plants would then lose importance again. In its coalition agreement, the federal traffic light coalition agreed to “ideally” phase out coal-fired power generation as early as 2030. According to the coal phase-out law, the phase-out should not be completed until 2038.
Robert Habeck spoke out in favor of a pragmatic approach to overcoming the current bottleneck situation in the energy supply. He does not rule out that coal-fired power plants will have to run longer in order to make the country more independent of Russia in terms of energy policy. “Pragmatism has to beat every political commitment, security of supply has to be guaranteed,” he said on Wednesday. When in doubt, security of supply is more important than climate protection.
The industry sees it too. In view of the situation, “crisis management and security of energy supply are the focus,” said Kerstin Andreae, general manager of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).
“We must examine all options to become independent of gas and coal supplies from Russia. This also includes the option of possibly activating coal-fired power plants from the security reserve to secure the supply,” she said. The security stand-by are decommissioned lignite-fired power plants that power grid operators can fall back on under certain conditions.
Andreae added that the current situation could mean “that we have to take a step aside on the way to reducing CO2”. The goal of climate neutrality is still clearly in mind. Power plant operators are already reorienting themselves.
For example, the Essen-based chemical group Evonik is considering keeping its company-owned coal-fired power plant in the Marl chemical park in operation for longer than planned. RWE had also indicated its willingness to let coal-fired power plants run longer.
>>Read also here: Due to imminent gas shortage: Evonik wants its own coal-fired power plant to run longer.
However, even within the state governments of the coal countries, there is criticism of plans to let coal-fired power plants run longer or even to question the coal phase-out altogether. Saxony’s Deputy Prime Minister Martin Dulig (SPD) criticized the discussion as a “phantom debate”.
Saxony’s Green Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Wolfram Günther rejected an extension of the lifespan of lignite-fired power plants. “The solution lies in the accelerated expansion of renewables,” Günther told Handelsblatt.
This is also how the Greens in Brandenburg see it. “We are clearly aiming for a coal phase-out by 2030 and see the importance of expanding renewables as a result of the war in Ukraine,” said Clemens Rostock, energy policy spokesman for the Greens in the state parliament, to the Handelsblatt. Habeck’s pragmatism is by no means shared by all Greens.
More: Filled with natural gas: Nord Stream 2 pipeline is left to its own devices