Berlin (dpa) – Following the shutdown of several coal-fired power plants, Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck still considers Germany’s energy supply to be secure and more independent than before the war in Ukraine. “Several coal-fired power plants that were still on the grid as a precautionary measure over the last two years are now superfluous and can be taken off the grid for good,” Habeck told dpa, adding that the prices for electricity and gas had fallen significantly and most electric power now came from “clean, climate-friendly sources” thanks to the expansion of renewable energy.
Several power plants were shut down over Easter which should no longer have been in operation according to the original plans. After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, however, Germany had to gain independence from Russian gas: for example, the Federal Government allowed several coal-fired power plant units to run longer than planned or took them out of reserve in order to use them for power generation and save natural gas. Due to the significant expansion of renewable energy and the stabilisation of the gas supply situation, continued operation of the power plant units is “neither necessary nor economical”, according the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
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