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Germany agrees to tender 10 GW of "hydrogen-ready" gas-fired power plants

The German coalition government has reached an agreement on a power plant strategy, endorsing a plan to subsidise so-called “hydrogen-ready” gas-fired power plants. Four plants with a capacity of up to 10 GW (4x2.5 GW) financed by the Climate and Transformation Fund are expected to be tendered in the short term, without announcing a specific date. They should switch completely to hydrogen between 2035 and 2040. In addition, the government plans to fund 500 MW power plants running on hydrogen for energy research purposes. 

Around 2.5 GW of gas capacity has been added since 2017, while the last nuclear plant was shut down in 2023 after the country decided to phase out nuclear in 2012. Coal accounted for 33% of Germany’s power mix in 2022, followed by gas (32%). In 2022, Norway became the main gas supplier (33% share vs 30% in 2021), followed by Russia (22% vs 39% in 2021).