The German government has endorsed a €4.3bn compensation package for power utilities RWE, Uniper, EnBW, Vattenfall, Steag and LEAG, which operate lignite-fired power plants in the country. Before the contracting parties can sign, the Bundestag (lower house of the Parliament) must pass the coal exit law and approve the compensation package. Aid approval from the European Commission is also required. In 2019, the country had a total installed capacity of 223 GW, including 51 GW of coal- and lignite-fired power plants.
In January 2020, the government approved a draft law aiming at ending coal-fired power generation by 2038 and reached a €40bn agreement with 4 Länder (Brandenburg, Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt) on financial compensation and structural aid for coal and lignite producing regions, deriving from the closure power plants and related mines. In June 2020, the government adopted the final version of its national energy and climate plan (NECP). According to the plan, Germany intends to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990, to cut primary energy consumption by 30% by 2030 compared to 2008 and to increase the share of renewables in gross final energy consumption to 30% by 2030.
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