Online news agency Clean Energy Wire reports that many of Germany’s coal-fired power plants went offline this year, so many that the country’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) had no need to impose a ban on these plants, partly because of an increase in renewable energy. The high number of market-driven coal power plant closures meant that the target for reduced capacity had already been exceeded this year, said BNetzA in a statement. This is the first time it has not been necessary to impose a ban in order to achieve the target since Germany’s legally binding coal phase-out began.
Coal capacity is being under-used because of the growing share of renewable energy in the mix, reported Table Media. The share of coal in the electricity mix has dipped from 48 % nine years ago to 19 % in the first half of 2024.
In July, the country’s economy ministry confirmed to CLEW that the government would not make any political efforts to bring forward the 2038 statutory deadline for exiting coal, despite a coalition government agreement to phase out the fossil fuel ideally by 2030. Instead, economy minister Robert Habeck said operators could voluntarily switch off the power plants deemed to be climate-damaging earlier, as rising CO2 prices related to EU reforms would make coal-fired power plants increasingly non-viable.
