According to representatives of Germany’s coalition government, restarting idle coal-fired power plants is being considered. The move is intended to ease rising energy costs caused by the war in Iran.
Coalition officials spoke about these plans in an interview with Politico. The goal is to conserve gas, whose prices have surged sharply following the attack on Iran.
On Thursday, the German Bundestag passed a package of measures aimed at curbing rising energy prices. The package imposes limits on price increases by energy companies, but doubts have already emerged about its effectiveness.
“Temporary Restart”
Economy and Energy Minister Katherina Reiche stated that the package may prove insufficient if the crisis drags on. Earlier this week, Reiche, who belongs to the same wing of the coalition as Chancellor Friedrich Merz, said that the EU’s net-zero emissions target should be relaxed.
Potential measures discussed by the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats include a proposal for the temporary restart of hard coal-fired power plants. These reserves are intended to prevent supply bottlenecks and stabilize electricity prices.
Major energy companies such as Steag had already been pushing for increased use of coal reserve capacity even before the US and Israeli attack on Iran at the end of February, arguing that it could serve as a bridge until new gas-fired power plants are built.
Currently, reserve power plants are mainly used to stabilize the grid during the winter period, meaning operators are reimbursed for costs but do not generate profits, leaving existing capacity unused.
Germany maintains a reserve fleet of coal-fired power plants with a capacity of approximately 6.7 gigawatts. In theory, this could supply electricity to around 7 million households, a Steag spokesperson said.
“Even on a typical day when renewable energy output is low, reserve power plants can reduce electricity prices by up to 60 percent,” the spokesperson added.
He also stated that the plants can be brought online within 12 hours of a request from the grid operator.