Does the east also get off earlier?
LEAG boss thinks coal phase-out 2033 is conceivable
01/27/2023 10:37 am
Germany wants to shut down the last coal-fired power plants by 2038 at the latest – at the energy supplier LEAG in Lusatia. His boss now surprises ntv with a possible appointment much earlier. However, only under certain conditions.
The boss of the Cottbus-based energy supplier LEAG, Thorsten Kramer, can imagine an earlier exit from coal than 2038 under certain conditions. “Of course I can imagine that LEAG will no longer live on coal in 2033,” said Kramer in an interview with ntv. To do this, the supply would have to be secure and the power plants converted to hydrogen so that LEAG could make its ten percent share of electricity generation in Germany available to the market.
According to the law, the last shutdowns of coal-fired power plants in Germany are planned for 2038 – at LEAG in Lusatia. So far, the company has also stuck to this plan. A possible early end date is 2035. The federal traffic light coalition had agreed to “ideally” phase out by 2030 in order to reduce emissions of climate-damaging carbon dioxide. This has already been agreed for North Rhine-Westphalia. Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck also wants to talk to the operators of the power plants in the lignite mining areas in the east about an earlier exit.
LEAG boss Kramer reported to ntv: “In ten years, LEAG may only be active in the field of renewable and green energies if the coal exit is brought forward. The company will no longer be recognizable.” The company wants to set up the largest German center for renewable energies in Lusatia and, with its “GigawattFactory”, generate seven gigawatts of electricity per year from renewable energies by 2030. This means that four million households could be safely supplied with ecological electricity. The photovoltaic and wind turbines are to be implemented on the post-mining areas in the region. By 2040, the volume is expected to increase to almost 14 gigawatts.
“In 10, 15 years, Lusatia will be a region that can no longer be compared with the current situation,” predicted the LEAG boss. “In terms of the infrastructure, the possibilities, the connections – I think a structural change is about to take place in this region that many people can’t even imagine.”