Germany's Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday approved the return to operation of backup lignite-fired power plants from October to the end of March 2024 to avoid a natural gas shortage this winter.
Source. This was reported by the Ministry of Economy, Reuters reports.
After the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a sharp decline in Russian gas imports, Berlin resumed the operation of coal-fired power plants and extended their lifespan, increasing total electricity generation last winter to 1.9 gigawatt-hours.
Despite the fact that the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from new terminals in the winter eliminated most of the problem areas in the German gas system, plans to build coal-fired power plants will be resumed, the government said in a statement.
Background. As a reminder, Deutsche Bank has tightened its policy of financing coal projects, but not oil and gas. This caused outrage among environmental organizations.