German Steel Association welcomes power plant strategy

The German Federal Government has agreed on the relevant key points of a power plant strategy and announced that it will continue to push forward on designs for the electricity market as well as on a market-driven capacity mechanism that is open with regard to technology.

As a first step in the near future, there will be tenders for 10 gigawatts worth of gas power plants, which are to be switched to hydrogen in 2035.

Kerstin Maria Rippel, chief managing director of the German Steel Association, says:

“We welcome the agreement between the partners of the coalition concerning the long-expected power plant strategy and their pragmatic suggestion to invite tenders for 10 gigawatts of gas power plant capacity in the near future. This is an important step that takes the security of our supply into consideration – and thereby paves the way towards climate neutrality while also safeguarding our industrial production sites. The reason for this is that, while increasing renewable energies is indeed necessary, we also need guarantees that our steel production will have sufficient electricity in periods with less wind and sunshine – and at a competitive price. With regard to the planned capacity mechanism, it is therefore necessary to use the planned market-driven design which is open towards different technologies to keep a handle on electricity pricing.”