{"id":363709,"date":"2025-01-28T07:06:16","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T06:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=363709"},"modified":"2025-01-28T07:06:18","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T06:06:18","slug":"germany-may-need-standby-coal-plants-for-longer-than-planned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=363709","title":{"rendered":"Germany May Need Standby Coal Plants for Longer Than Planned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
RWE wind park near mine Garzweiler with plant Niederaussem in Rheinisches Kohlerevier , Germany, on Wednesday , August 11, 2021. Photographer: Alex Kraus\/Bloomberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From OilPrice.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Charles Kennedy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Germany may have to rely on standby coal-fired power generation longer than previously expected, to keep its power system stable and power prices from spikes when renewable output is low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The German plans to build new natural gas-fired power plants are behind schedule while the reserve margins on the system have shrunk since Europe\u2019s biggest economy shut down<\/a> its last nuclear power plant in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without alternatives for backup generation to secure power supply at peak demand and low wind speeds, coal plants could be needed into the 2030s, too, Christoph Mueller, chief executive at German grid operator Amprion GmbH, told Bloomberg in an interview<\/a> published on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of these plants currently only have an operating perspective until 2026, the vast majority until 2031,\u201d Mueller said, referring to the coal plants on standby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should do a proper analysis now in case we need these power plants for longer,\u201d the executive added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany needs to soon move to award tenders for new natural gas capacity that would replace coal plants if Europe\u2019s biggest economy is to meet its target to phase out coal in power generation by the end of the decade, German energy giant Uniper said<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany, which in 2023 closed<\/a> all its remaining nuclear power plants \u2013 is now seeking to balance the generation and transmission systems with new gas power plants. But deadlines and timelines are being missed, and a new government is expected after the snap elections in late February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country has also decided to accelerate the coal phase-out<\/a> to 2030, from an earlier planned date of 2038, but Germany has reactivated some mothballed coal-fired power plants during the past few winters after Russian natural gas supply ceased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of last year, Germany\u2019s power prices spiked<\/a> as the so-called power margin, the available electricity supply to meet demand, sunk as low wind speeds and colder weather were straining the power system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, Germany\u2019s coal importers lobby, VDKi, said<\/a> that coal plants remain a pillar of German power generation during times of low wind speeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cModern hard coal-fired power plants are an important backbone of the German electricity grid,\u201d VDKi CEO Alexander Bethe said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn order to provide sufficient controllable power plants for security of supply, it is therefore necessary to introduce a technology-open, competitive centralised CAPACITY MARKET as soon as possible,\u201d Bethe added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Germany may have to rely on standby coal-fired power generation longer than previously expected, to keep its power system stable and power prices from spikes when renewable output is low.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":363710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691832910,691832911,691818051,691819873,691832909,691832908],"class_list":{"0":"post-363709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-europes-biggest-economy","9":"tag-gas-fired-power-plants","10":"tag-germany","11":"tag-power-prices","12":"tag-power-system","13":"tag-standby-coal-plants","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0-Germany-May-Need-Standby-Coal-Plants-for-Longer-Than-Planned.jpg?fit=4000%2C2667&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1wCh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":325506,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=325506","url_meta":{"origin":363709,"position":0},"title":"It\u2019s coal to the rescue as wind and solar fail to keep German lights on","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/05\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"In Germany they call it the \u201cEnergiewende,\u201d meaning energy transition, and it doesn\u2019t work. 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