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Importers: German coal plants essential for electricity supply

Posted to Maritime Reporter on January 9, 2025

In a statement released on Thursday by the coal importers' lobby VDKi, they said that Germany's hard coal-powered power plants remain an important backup to ensure supply in times of low wind and solar energy. They also called for better compensation.

VDKi makes its call in the regulatory limbo that exists before national elections on February 23, three months after Germany’s coalition government fell apart, and following recent periods of high wholesale power prices which harmed industrial demand and burdened household budgets.

In a Friday evening statement, VDKi Chairman Alexander Bethe said that modern hard coal plants were an important part of the German grid.

He added that "in order to tap into a sufficient and secure supply of power, it will be required to introduce a market for capacity that is competitive, open to all technologies, and centralised."

The German term "dunkelflaute" (for dark, calm weather) means that wind and solar power plants are not producing.

Germany was supposed to have abandoned nuclear energy in 2022, and since then, a programme of building gas-fired power plants that are less carbon-intensive than coal-fired ones, has been launched.

The programme lost its chance of receiving parliamentary approval when the government fell apart. This reopened the discussion about how to guarantee supply security.

Bethe said that a capacity market where generators compete for fixed remuneration for providing power, and is modeled after successful schemes in European countries, will provide incentives to both coal and natural gas plant operators.

He said that coal should not be demonised. Carbon sequestration options and storage are not only for gas-burning power plants, but they can also be extended to coal.

According to the industry group BDEW, Germany still has 16 gigawatts of hard coal remaining. This will contribute 5.4% of total power generation in 2024. (Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Alexandra Hudson)

(source: Reuters)

Tags: Transportation Europe Western Europe

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