Despite “promised decisive breakthroughs” on a power plant strategy in 2023, “none of the necessary issues have been clarified,” Russwurm said on Tuesday (16 January)…
In early August 2023, the German government triumphantly announced that the European Commission had essentially greenlit its plan for subsidised backup power plants.
That meant 8.8 GW of dedicated hydrogen power plants, alongside 15 GW of natural gas-powered ones that ought to switch to hydrogen by 2035 at the latest, in total representing about one-third of the German peak power demand of 2023…
Because these plants would likely only produce power in periods of sustained low wind and low sun – known as “kalte Dunkelflaute” – they are unlikely to make a profit without state support. And critically, the annual €7 billion earmarked for this purpose “evaporated” following a ruling from Germany’s top court…
DB2