RWE AG 
"It is premature to speculate now that the 2030 phase-out cannot be achieved, I don't think that is expedient," said Krebber according to an advance report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. Lindner had questioned the coal phase-out aimed for by 2030. "As long as it is not clear that energy is available and affordable, we should stop dreaming of phasing out coal-fired power by 2030," he told the "Kölner Stadtanzeiger" newspaper.
A year ago, the German government passed a law to end coal-fired power plants in North Rhine-Westphalia by 2030. It remains to be seen what will happen to lignite-fired power plants in eastern Germany. The end date of 2038 still applies to them, but the traffic light coalition had agreed to "ideally" bring forward the phase-out in Germany as a whole to 2030.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) confirmed these efforts to Bloomberg TV. It is absolutely the plan to shut down all coal-fired power plants in Germany by 2030. Due to the increase in the price of pollution rights, the operation of coal-fired power plants will no longer be worthwhile after 2030 anyway.
RWE CEO Krebber called on politicians to use the time. In order to replace coal-fired power plants, the construction of gas-fired power plants that can be operated with climate-friendly hydrogen from the mid-30s is urgently needed. "I would like the German government to create joint investment conditions for construction as quickly as possible," he said. So far, investments in "future-proof gas-fired power plants" have not been economically attractive for companies such as RWE. It must be clear by next year who will build where and when. Otherwise, the coal phase-out will be tight.
(Report by Tom Käckenhoff; edited by Sabine Wollrab. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).
