German government denies media report on latest coal exit commission draft
The German government denies a report by news website Spiegel Online that the country's coal exit commission will propose to initiate the fossil fuel's phase-out in the west of the country and favours to finish it by 2035. Germany鈥檚 economy and energy ministry (BMWi), where the commission鈥檚 secretariat is based, said in a short statement 鈥渙n behalf of the commission鈥� that 鈥渢he entire report lacks any basis.鈥�
In the article on Spiegel Online, Gerald Traufetter writes that a leaked draft of the commission鈥檚 final report says coal plants with a total capacity of 5 gigawatts (GW) will be taken offline by 2022, thereof five lignite units in the Rhenish district in western state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). After 2022, a total capacity of 37 GW remains to be closed, with a majority being switched off before 2030. Eastern German plants will only be closed after 2030, when a total of 16 GW remains, according to the article. A majority of the commission supports a proposal to complete the phase-out by 2035, when remaining plants could be transferred into a security standby reserve, writes Traufetter.
Martin Kaiser, head of Greenpeace Germany and coal commission member said in a statement that the members themselves had not seen the paper. 鈥淐losing the last coal plant in eastern Germany in 2035 is way too late,鈥� Kaiser said, adding that only an earlier exit date would ensure that the country fulfilled its climate targets.
Find the article in German .
For background, read the articles German government plans to postpone deadline for coal commission and Commission watch 鈥� Managing Germany鈥檚 coal phase-out.