Uniper has presented a closure program for its hard-coal-fired power plants in Germany. The company intends to close about 1.5 GW of hard-coal capacity by year-end 2022, corresponding to three generating units at the Scholven power plant in Gelsenkirchen and the Wilhelmshaven power plant. In addition, Uniper plans to shut down another 1.4 GW at Staudinger and Heyden power plants by 2025 at the latest. The 1.1 GW Datteln 4 coal-fired power plant will still be commissioned; the project is in trial operations and could begin operations as soon as mid-2020. It will be the last remaining coal-fired power plant in the Uniper portfolio in Germany.
In January 2020, Germany’s federal cabinet approved a draft law aiming at ending coal-fired power generation by 2038, in order to cut the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990. The German federal parliament, the Bundestag, is expected to adopt the text by mid-2020. The government will check how the coal phase-out works, focusing on power supply security, electricity prices, and climate protection, in 2022, 2026, 2029 and 2032. From 2026, it will check whether the phase-out can be brought forward by three years, i.e. by 2035 instead of 2038. The new legislation foresees maximum phase-out compensation of €165,000/MW in 2020, falling to €155,000/MW in 2021-2022, and by 25%/year until 2026, reaching €49,000/MW. Compensations will end in 2026. CO2 emissions under the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) related to these coal-fired power plants will be cancelled.
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