Green Europe: the German government wants to extend the life of coal power plants
The German government is considering whether to extend the period in which aging coal-fired power plants will have to standby for emergency backup beyond the currently scheduled deadline of spring 2024, German business daily Handelsblatt reported this weekend, citing a spokesperson. . for the Ministry of Economy.
Without Russian gas, the energy and gas crisis that erupted last year in Germany and Europe has kept utilities and governments on edge, ready to take standby coal-fired power plants offline on the coldest winter days to ensure electricity safety. supply.
Earlier this month, the German government said it would bring back several coal-fired units this winter in a bid to save natural gas and avoid electricity shortages.
Several coal-fired production units operated by RWE and LEAG at the power plants in Niederaußem, Neurath and Jaenschwalde will be temporarily reactivated until March 2024 as a precautionary measure to safeguard the electricity supply next winter, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy said. 'Climate action, referring to a government decision to bring coal-fired units back into operation.
Such coal-fired units were already operational during the winter of 2022/2023, when Germany was forced to drastically reduce its gas supply due to the end of Russian pipeline deliveries. Reserve coal capacity was put on standby this summer until the government decided to reactivate it for next winter.
Now the German government is considering extending the stand-by period beyond spring 2024 to avoid energy shortages, according to Handelsblatt's source.
The government needs to make a decision soon because utilities need to prepare to potentially operate coal plants for longer than expected, including preparations for coal supply and planning for stable power systems, a spokesperson told Handelsblatt by Uniper.
As of this month, 11 coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 6.2 gigawatts (GW) are supplying additional electricity to the German grid.
By now Greta Thunberg has gone out of fashion and the German government, instead of keeping the nuclear power plants active, or planning new ones, thus eliminating carbon emissions, decides to continue on the old path, which requires zero investments, and keep the nuclear power plants active. coal. But weren't the Greens in government?
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The article Green Europe: the German government wants to extend the life of coal plants comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/europa-green-il-governo-tedesco-vuole-prolungare-la-vita-delle-centrali-a-carbone/ on Tue, 24 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000.