Economy ministry plans no compensation for hard coal plant operators after 2030 – media

The German economy ministry plans to hold tenders to remunerate hard coal plant operators for taking units off the grid early, but only until 2030, reports Jakob Schlandt in Tagesspiegel Background. After that date, operators would receive no compensation and hard coal plants would be shut down step by step according to their age, reports Tagesspiegel based on a draft law on Germany's hard coal exit and talks with ministry officials. This would push even operators of younger plants to partake in the tenders to profit from the remuneration and avoid lawsuits with uncertain outcome, Schlandt writes. The draft does not discuss important decisions, such as the upper price limit for the tenders, and it does not yet cover the exit from lignite. It is supposed to be finalised for inter-ministerial coordination by the end of September, the article says.

Germany has officially set in motion the gradual withdrawal from coal. An expert commission set up by the government recommended shutting the last coal-fired power plant by 2038 at the latest. It is now up to the government to move on the proposal and mould it into legislative drafts before parliament gets the final say. As a first step, it has presented a draft law aimed strengthening mining regions following the country’s coal exit, but a schedule for plant shutdowns has yet to be decided.