KARLSRUHE/BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The Karlsruhe-based energy company EnBW welcomes the fact that the German government has cleared the way for a strategy for the construction of new gas-fired power plants, particularly in the "grid-connected south" of Germany. CEO Georg Stamatelopoulos saw this as good news for southern Germany as an industrial location. It is about grid stability and the cost of purchased electricity, for example. "An effective solution now depends on the specific design," he said.

The Federal Ministry of Economics had previously announced that, as planned, a total of 12.5 gigawatts of power plant capacity and 500 megawatts of long-term storage capacity would be put out to tender. The agreement had also been coordinated with the European Commission. However, final approval from the EU under state aid law is still pending.

The new gas-fired power plants will later be operated with hydrogen and will be available as "backups" in times of "dark doldrums" when there is no wind and no sunshine. According to the ministry, 5 gigawatts of new hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants are to be put out to tender in the near future as a contribution to the rapid decarbonization of the power plant fleet.

High risk of further delays

Stamatelopoulos emphasized: "It is important that the details of the auction design are made known to potential bidders in a timely manner, as participation in the auction requires a lot of preparation time and there is time pressure." Clarity on other important details is also necessary to give investors planning security.

"The second tendering round has not yet been scheduled and no decision has been made on a model for the capacity mechanism planned from 2028 or an agreement reached with the EU," he made clear. "This harbors a high risk of further delays." However, these must be avoided at all costs, as otherwise the coal phase-out cannot be implemented as planned and certainly not brought forward.

EnBW announced last year that it wanted to phase out coal as early as 2028. However, the political framework conditions would have to be right for this to happen, it said.

Overall, EnBW considers an increase in so-called dispatchable capacity of around 20 gigawatts to be necessary for Germany, which has also been shown by analyses of the transmission system operators. The planned projects could therefore only represent the first steps in this direction./hoe/kre/DP/jha