Industrial-scale power-to-gas “interesting prospect” for lignite mining region - env min

Large-scale installations used for storing renewable power as gas (power-to-gas) would be an interesting prospect for the east German lignite mining region of Lusatia, according to environment minister Svenja Schulze. Speaking at an event organised by the mining union IG BCE, Schulze said Germany can afford to take a fair share of its coal-fired power generation off the grid without endangering supply security because of its existing overcapacities. “Germany is no longer a climate protection pioneer. We have lost that role,” Schulze said, adding that she wanted the country to claim it back.
Schulze said it was important to continue discussions about a CO₂ price for sectors not covered by the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), such as transport and buildings. “It’s crazy that we fund the energy transition with higher power prices if we want to electrify other sectors like transport,” Schulze said. She called Germany’s climate targets “a huge chance – they are a modernisation programme for the economy.” Schulze said Germany needed climate protection as a driver for industry innovation. “Whoever doesn’t take part will be left behind. There is an enormous international demand for green energy solutions, and we have to stay in the lead.”
Mining union IG BCE head Michael Vassiliadis and Christian Kullmann, CEO of specialty chemicals company Evonik, flatly rejected an additional CO₂ price in Germany alone. They criticised the current Energiewende policies for being too expensive, arguing that they favoured the climate over jobs, and that a hasty coal exit could endanger power supply security.

For background on plans to use storage technologies to facilitate the coal exit, read the dossier Electricity storage is next feat for Germany’s energy transition. For more on Lusatia, read the factsheet Germany’s three lignite mining regions. The dossier German industry embraces Energiewende transformation challenge has details on the energy transition’s impact on the economy.