The federal government wants to get out of coal as quickly as possible – if possible by 2030. The East German coal countries consider this to be unrealistic. Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Woidke accuses the traffic lights of being tactical.
Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) has called on the federal government to end the discussion about an early coal phase-out. “Ideally, the federal government declares: We are foregoing 2030,” he said on Tuesday evening in Cottbus.
Woidke: “no secure planning” because of 2030
Woidke was alluding to the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. The parties had agreed to “ideally bring forward to 2030” the gradual phase-out of coal by 2038. But this date doesn’t work, says Woidke, and is only mentioned “for ideological and party tactical reasons.” According to Woidke, the number ensures “that there is no secure planning for energy supply in Germany”.
The SPD Prime Minister took part in a conference on structural change in Cottbus together with his counterparts from Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Michael Kretschmer and Reiner Haseloff (both CDU). Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, along with North Rhine-Westphalia, are among the remaining coal countries.
Kretschmer and Haseloff also reject an exit in 2030. In Cottbus they also criticized the federal energy policy. Kretschmer renewed his call for the energy transition to be “relaunched” with a commission. We need to talk about how electricity prices of five to six cents per kilowatt hour can be achieved for industry. Kretschmer accused the Greens led by Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck of “dividing the country because they did not recognize the realities.”
Habeck: “Bend open Goal achievement paths a”
Habeck spoke at the conference that morning and painted an optimistic picture. “We are embarking on the path to achieving our goals,” he said to representatives of the energy industry and coal communities present.
According to Habeck, for example, the power plant strategy presented at the beginning of February should be examined by the EU Commission by the summer. The tender for hydrogen-capable gas power plants should also be carried out in the same time frame. The federal government wants to use these to secure the transition to a climate-neutral energy supply by 2040.
Billions in compensation for Lausitz on the way
Habeck gave hope to the energy company LEAG, which operates brown coal mines and power plants in Lusatia. Compensation of 1.75 billion euros from federal funds that LEAG should receive for the coal phase-out by 2038 has been examined by the EU Commission for years. Habeck now said that a modification of the aid “should be politically resolved around Easter.”
The Commission had already approved similar compensation for RWE at the end of last year. However, RWE and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia had agreed with the federal government to phase out coal early in 2030. However, negotiations with the Czech energy company EPH, which owns LEAG and the company MIBRAG based in the central German region, and the states of Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt over 2030 failed.
The federal government is working on an initial evaluation of the coal phase-out. This is provided for by law and has now been postponed for around a year and a half. The traffic light had decided to use the evaluation to check whether an exit in 2030 could be implemented. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Change (BMWK) currently assumes that the coal phase-out will come before 2038, “driven by the market”.