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(Bloomberg) — Leaders in Berlin clashed over whether Germany should slow down the pace of its renewables expansion in order to focus efforts on building new gas-fired power plants, setting the stage for friction in what the coalition has dubbed an “autumn of reforms.”
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Chancellor Friedrich Merz backed Economy Minister Katherina Reiche’s view that Germany should “slightly reduce the expansion targets,” he said Tuesday at an event organized by the German Mechanical Engineering Association. A day earlier, Reiche had justified a rollback of renewables subsidies with a report she commissioned, which predicted Germany’s electricity consumption will increase less than previously assumed by 2030.
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Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil railed against the idea, arguing on TV channel Phoenix that the “expansion of renewables must continue without restrictions.”
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Germany has rapidly expanded its clean energy infrastructure in recent years, particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlighted the vulnerability of its reliance on imported fossil fuels. It currently aims to get 80% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
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When the new government took office earlier this year, it said it wanted to focus efforts on bringing energy costs down, prompting expectations it may focus less on green energy.
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Klingbeil’s party, the Social Democrats, formed part of the previous government’s coalition, which had tried to accelerate the clean energy expansion. “We will not allow any slowdowns in this area,” he said. Merz and Reiche are both from the conservative Christian Democrats.
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Reiche aims to incentivize the construction of 20 gigawatts of new gas-fired power plant capacity, with a first auction due by the end of the year, a move criticized by climate activists.
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—With assistance from Michael Nienaber.
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