Germany sets goal to end coal power by 2038

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Germany will ending its reliance on coal power stations by 2038 at the latest, according to a government-appointed coal-exit commission. It has proposed at least €40 billion in aid to regions that will be affected by the phase-out.

Last year, renewables made up more than 40% of Germany’s energy mix, beating fossil fuels for the first time. But fossil fuels still account for nearly 40% of Germany’s power needs, so the new target will have a major impact on Europe’s efforts to meet the terms of the Paris climate agreement.

According to Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, a member of the commission and an adviser to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel: “This is an important step on the road to the post-fossil age – a step that also opens up new perspectives for the affected regions through innovation-driven structural change.” But he said it had been difficult to reach a consensus on how quickly to phase out coal.

In the first step of the phase-out, plant operators including RWE, Uniper, EnBW and Vattenfall will be asked to shut down about 12.7 gigawatts (GW) of capacity by 2022, equivalent to about 24 large power station units. Under the proposed plans, coal power capacity in Germany would more than halve to 17 GW by 2030.

The news is not been welcomed by all quarters. RWE, which runs many of the country’s power plants, says the move has come ‘far too early’ and that the proposals ‘would have far-reaching consequences for the Germany energy sector and in particular for RWE.’ Coal union members greeted a meeting of the coal exit commission in Berlin on Friday with a demonstration urging against a hasty phaseout.

The commission has also indicated that preserving the contested Hambach forest was ‘desirable’, hitting RWE’s key source of lignite.

However, the commission has said compensation and other shutdown details should be agreed with the operators on a contractual basis. Compensation for companies and household consumers facing higher power bills due to the phase-out should be two billion euros per year, with the exact amount to be set in 2023, the report said.

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