Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany’s efforts to ensure energy security will not delay the country’s plans to phase out coal by 2030, according to a report by Allianz Research. In the short term, Germany has opted to revert to using coal and reactivated coal plants instead of boosting its nuclear power facilities, a decision which has faced criticism from some quarters who argue the country is ‘backsliding’ on climate goal alongside the rest of the Group of Seven (G7). Allianz’s report highlights that the German government has said the EU Emissions Trading System will limit additional emissions and reiterated that coal will be phased out by 2030. In the medium term, Germany’s new targets are aiming for at least a fourfold increase in renewable capacities, allowing a shift away from Russian gas. To reach this target there needs to be an overhaul in core areas of the German electricity system, the report said, including simplifying and accelerating planning and approval procedures for renewable energy projects and adopting an integrated system-development plan to coordinate hydrogen, electricity and gas networks. This planned renewables expansion will annually generate €40 billion in value until 2035 and create up to 440,000 jobs in Germany alone.
Despite the short-term fix of relying on #coal for electricity generation, the race to #energy sovereignty sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could push #Germany’s green transition well past the finish line. Find out why in our new report 👉https://t.co/s1Ymu8ijiI
— Ludovic Subran (@Ludovic_Subran) July 13, 2022
