Germany will review whether to reactivate standby coal-fired power plants in an effort to reduce energy prices that have been elevated since the war in the Middle East.
Lawmakers of the conservative party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz as well as their coalition partner, the Social Democrats, agreed on the move as part of a package of energy measures after talks in parliament Friday.
While Germany is due to phase out coal by 2038, the review shows Europe’s biggest economy may still fall back on the dirty fossil fuel in times of crisis. The nation has been struggling with higher energy prices ever since it lost Russian pipeline gas supplies in 2022, and now heavily relies on LNG shipments.
“We face a problem when we look at the markets over the long term, if prices remain high — not just for oil, but also for gas,” said Sepp Müller, vice chair of the governing conservative party’s parliamentary group, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report. “That is why we are asking the federal government to bring coal-fired power plants back online from reserve status in order to reduce overall gas consumption.”
The Economy Ministry and the energy regulator have been asked to review the request, said Müller, with the aim of taking a final decision in the next few weeks. The review covers the reactivation of the reserve — currently made up of 8.8 gigawatts, with hard coal making up three quarters of the capacity — and already decommissioned lignite plants.
“The measure will only slightly lower electricity prices in the coming months,” said Philipp Godron, Program Lead Power at think tank Agora Energiewende. “In the long run it will undermine investor confidence and make electricity more expensive for everyone — not to mention the additional emissions.”
The parliamentary groups also asked the government to review further measures to reduce energy prices, such as a windfall tax on oil company profits, a potential price cap on fuels, a reduction of vehicle and fuel taxes, a cut to power taxes for households, and the introduction of a temporary commuter allowance.
