French TotalEnergies lauds German coalition treaty, vows 'green' expansion in neighbour market

French energy company TotalEnergies says it plans to stay on its expansion course in Germany, welcoming the CDU/CSU and SDP coalition deal that will continue to support the expansion of renewables and introduce new "flexible" gas-fired power plants as well as battery storage, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.  

Germany is a "strategically important and complementary market to France, which is relatively stable due to the dominance of nuclear energy," Sophie Chevalier, head of flexible power and integration at the French fossil fuel heavyweight, told the newspaper. The German market, on the other hand, was undergoing “radical change,” with the phase-out of nuclear and coal-fired power opening “great growth prospects, and not just for renewable energies," she argued.  

Chevalier referred to the up to 20 gigawatts (GW) of new gas-fired power plant capacity that is set to be built across Germany by 2030 to ensure security of supply when the wind is not blowing and sun is not shining. The company is confident of its position in the tender process, the article said  

In 2023, TotalEnergies acquired one of Germany's largest direct marketers of renewable energies, Quadra Energy, and last year it acquired Munich-based battery storage developer Kyon Energy. The French company also operates around 7,000 charging points in Germany and recently acquired concessions for offshore wind farms with a total net capacity of 6.5 GW in the German North and Baltic Seas. 

In March, US gas turbine manufacturer GE Vernova expressed doubts about the plans by Germany’s prospective next government to connect the 20 GW of gas-fired power plants to the grid by 2030. The company referred to high global demand for gas turbines, among other challenges.