{"id":17682,"date":"2024-04-17T13:17:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T11:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2025.mining-report.de\/english\/?page_id=17682"},"modified":"2025-05-26T17:00:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T15:00:18","slug":"why-is-coal-still-being-phased-out","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mining-report.de\/english\/why-is-coal-still-being-phased-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is Coal Still Being Phased Out?"},"content":{"rendered":"T<\/span>he phase-out of coal-fired power generation decided and pursued in Germany on the grounds of climate policy is proving to be increasingly questionable in terms of energy policy. It makes neither an internationally proportionate contribution to CO2<\/sub> reduction nor an economically convincing contribution to climate-friendly electricity generation at national level. In any case, security of supply will continue to favour an energy mix with coal in the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

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Author\/Autor:\u00a0<\/strong>Prof. Dr. rer. oec. Kai van de Loo, Forschungszentrum Nachbergbau (FZN), Technische Hochschule Georg Agricola (THGA), Bochum\/Germany<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Coal phase-out \u2013 energy policy question marks<\/h4>\n\n\t\t
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At the end of 2023, the Federal Network Agency surprised everyone by vetoing the further decommissioning of coal-fired power plants before 2031. These capacities would be needed at least until then for the so-called grid reserve of the energy transition, i.\u2009e. the national coal phase-out \u201cideally\u201d envisaged by the current federal government by 2030 cannot be realised (1). The new \u201cpower plant strategy\u201d in the form of the construction of approximately 25 GW or around 50 or more large new, hydrogen-capable (H2<\/sub>-ready) gas-fired power plants, which has been announced as an alternative for some time, even specifically by mid-2023, has not yet been implemented and can no longer be realised by 2030. In addition, the federal and state governments lack the budget funds for the necessary investment framework of at least 20 bn \u20ac. (2)<\/p>\n

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Fig. 1. Gross electricity generation in Germany in 2023. \/\/ Bild 1. Bruttostromerzeugung in Deutschland 2023. Source\/Quelle: AGEB<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the winter of 2023\/24 once again impressively demonstrated, the fossil fuel coal in Germany continues to make a significant contribution to the security of the national electricity supply, including heat supplies and system services, in addition to its other uses in the raw materials industry. After the final nuclear phase-out in Germany in spring 2023, the German electricity supply can only be guaranteed by the existing coal-fired power plants and supplementary conventional gas-fired power plants despite the increasing share of renewable energies \u2013 now over 50\u2009% \u2013 due to the volatility of wind power and photovoltaics (PV) depending on the weather, season and time of day (Figure 1). In addition, there is now a persistent surplus of imported electricity, primarily from French nuclear energy. Electricity and energy supply security without conventional energies as a \u201cbackup\u201d remains impossible for the time being.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the coal phase-out in Germany is still considered a political decision. For local and international climate activists and their political and media sounding board, the coal phase-out is a prioritised, unquestionable and loudly advocated \u201cmust-have\u201d of climate policy (Figure 2). After all, coal is the \u201cdirtiest\u201d energy.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 2. Anti-coal protests by climate activists. \/\/ Bild 2. Anti-Kohleproteste von Klimaaktivisten. Photo\/Foto: \u00a9\u2009mw238, www.flickr.com\/photos\/mw238\/42989734591<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The question, however, is whether a total phase-out of coal-fired power generation, as envisaged by the Coal Electricity Termination Act (KVBG), is still viable in terms of energy policy. The KVBG\u2019s 2020 target of gradually reducing coal-fired power generation in Germany and phasing it out completely by 2038 at the latest still applies (Figure 3). In addition to the shutdown of all existing lignite and hard coal-fired power plants in Germany, the end of coal-fired power generation will also result in the phasing out of lignite mining, following the complete closure of the domestic hard coal mining industry in 2018. For the Rhenish mining area in North Rhine-Westphalia, a political agreement has already been reached to end the generation of electricity from and extraction of lignite by 2030.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 3. Planned reduction of coal-fired power plant capacities in \u00adGermany. \/\/ Bild 3. Geplanter Abbau der Kohlekraftwerkskapazit\u00e4ten in\u00a0Deutschland. Source\/Quelle: GVSt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The main reason for this is climate policy. According to \u00a7\u20092 (1) KVBG, the main aim is to \u201creduce emissions while ensuring a secure, affordable, efficient and climate-friendly supply of electricity to the general public.\u201d (3) However, there are now compelling reasons against this:<\/p>\n