Incoming gov’t in eastern German state bullish on renewables but sticks to 2038 coal exit
Clean Energy Wire
The incoming coalition government in the eastern German state of Brandenburg has said it aims to continue the expansion of renewable energies to make the region surrounding the country’s capital Berlin largely independent of fossil fuels. However, it also said it aims to stick to the nationally agreed coal exit date of 2038 to “secure the energy supply and ensure the energy independence” of the state. Brandenburg is home to part of eastern Germany’s largest lignite mining region, Lusatia, and policymakers there have long resisted a push by the federal government to bring the coal exit forward from the current deadline, with the government “ideally” aiming for 2030.
“The expansion of renewable energies is a great opportunity for Brandenburg,” said the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the nationalist-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) in a draft coalition agreement. Companies were already setting up in the state, because there is “significantly more wind and solar energy than in most other federal states.” The agreement must now be greenlit by both parties.
Brandenburg is already home to Tesla's German gigafactory. The coalition wants to support that value chains for transition technologies, such as e-mobility and hydrogen, are established in the state. Most energy policy decisions are taken at the federal level in Germany, and the coalition aims to influence these. It wants changes to CO2 pricing systems to ensure that lower income households are compensated. It also wants to decrease the electricity tax and aims to introduce temporary industry power price subsidies.
In the election on 22 September, German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD narrowly defeated the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). While most Germans share the view that the energy transition and climate action are essential, voters in the East tend to lend more support to parties that reject the current energy and climate policies, such as the AfD and the BSW. The pro-Russian BSW is also set to be part of a new coalition government in the eastern state of Thuringia.
