Versorgungssicherheit: Söder und Özdemir fordern mehr neue Kraftwerke im Süden

Bayerns Ministerpräsident Markus Söder and his Baden-Württemberg counterpart Cem Özdemir, both members of their respective parties, have entered the debate surrounding the location and technology of new backup power plants. They are urging a fundamental improvement in the bidding conditions for new power plant capacities. The key point is that new gas power plants should be built where they are most needed for energy security and grid stability, particularly in southern Germany, including the states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Özdemir emphasized that two-thirds of the new plants must be constructed in the south.

Söder called it "especially fatal" that renovated and unused lignite power plants in the north should be favored instead of new gas plants in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. These new gas power plants are intended to ensure power supply security by 2031 at the latest, as part of the planned coal phase-out by 2038. Operators receive money for maintaining these plants, with the best offer winning the bid.

Almost all awards in the first round went to energy giants RWE and Leag, who plan to build new plants at existing or former coal power plant sites. Six Leag projects in Brandenburg and Saxony are Fuel-Switch projects, converting lignite power plants into gas plants. Eastern Germany, considered part of the north due to its network infrastructure, is also involved.

A new bidding round began on Tuesday. The Enervis short study notes that gross electricity prices could rise. Consulting firm Enervis calculated that the costs of operating converted coal plants would be lower than new gas or steam turbine plants due to lower investment costs. However, their lower efficiency would lead to higher variable generation costs, potentially increasing wholesale electricity prices.

Study author Tim Höfer points out that additional costs for procuring power would exceed the assumed savings from capacity payments. The federal Ministry of Economy responded to the discussions about the subsidies for converted lignite plants in the first round. It plans to clarify the rules under which energy companies can participate in the auctions, specifying that bids can only be submitted for decommissioned coal plants or those scheduled to be decommissioned by January 1, 2030.

The Ministry noted that these modifications would not affect the results of the first bidding round, which it called a "great success."