Germany pushes 17-billion-euro gas power plan despite election uncertainty

EnBW Energie Baden Wuerttemberg AG

22/11/2024 17:07

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      Coalition collapse complicates legislative approval
    

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      Opposition criticizes lack of formal draft for Power Plant
Safety Act
    

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      Plan includes tenders for hydrogen-ready and
fully-hydrogen-powered plants
    

  
    By Markus Wacket and Riham Alkousaa
       BERLIN, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Germany's economy minister
pushed ahead on Friday with legislation to provide billions of
euros to build gas power plants, according to government
sources, but the chances of the plan receiving parliamentary
approval were slim.
    Robert Habeck's position as head of the economy and energy
ministry has become a caretaker role ahead of snap elections in
February following the collapse of the governing coalition.
    On Friday, he passed the legislation on to government
departments for consultation, with the goal of swiftly getting
it through parliament before the elections, sources said.
    However, that timeline is ambitious, considering his
government no longer commands a parliamentary majority.
    Andreas Jung, spokesperson for climate and energy policy of
the opposition CDU, criticized the government for not providing
a formal draft of the Power Plant Safety Act, despite its
importance. 
    He said only a draft bill for internal review has been
submitted, which has raised concerns among energy experts and
operators. 
    "Since there is still no draft from the government, there is
still no basis for parliamentary consultation," Jung told
Reuters.
    The plan is to unlock 17 billion euros ($17.70 billion) in
subsidies up to 2042 to stabilise the grid with electricity
produced from gas when unsteady renewable-energy supplies fall
short.
    It includes tenders for building new hydrogen-ready gas
power plants, retrofitting old gas power plants for the use of
hydrogen and tenders for fully-hydrogen-powered plants, the
economy ministry added.
    Germany is betting on green hydrogen, produced through
electrolysis driven by wind and solar power, as an alternative
to fossil fuels.
    Habeck has been under pressure from energy companies, who
complain that his plan was already behind schedule. The first
plants are needed by 2030 to ensure a secure supply and enable
the minister's Greens Party to stick to its goal of ending
coal-fired power generation by 2030.
    Kerstin Andreae, the head of German utilities association
BDEW, said achieving the 2030 coal phase-out was contingent on
construction of sufficient gas-fired power plants within that
time frame, but looked to the successor government for action. 
    "The new election must not lead to any further delay, which
is why this project must be on the new federal government's
100-day agenda at least," Andreae told Reuters.
     
    ($1 = 0.9607 euros)

 (Reporting by Markus Wacket and Riham Alkousaa, Writing by
Rachel More; Editing by Rod Nickel)
 ((mailto:rachel.more@thomsonreuters.com;))