The latest draft of Germany’s coal exit law suggests that the country will extend tenders to phase out hard coal-fired power plants by a year to the end of 2027. The government will also postpone the deadline for regulated, non-compensated closures from 2027 to 2031, as part of the country’s move to phase out all coal power plants by 2038.
Germany will start the first phase-out auction on September 1, but it can be postponed to December if the European Commission has not approved one week before the auction date. The first auction will be for 4GW capacity, followed by 1.5GW in 2021.
However, the government also reduced the decommissioning deadline for plants that are successful in the phase-out tenders. The selected plants in 2021 will have eight months to shut, compared to ten months previously. For the 2022 and 2023 auctions the deadline will be 16 and 17 months, respectively, followed by 2024 (24 months), 2025 (28 months). Winners of 2026 and 2027 auctions will have 30 months to close the plants.
