BERLN, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The German government adopted a draft legislation on Wednesday that includes a detailed schedule for the phase-out of coal-fired power generation in Germany by 2038.
Germany would end coal-fired power generation in a "legally secure, economically sensible and socially balanced manner," said Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier. Germany is the first country to implement a mandatory phase-out of nuclear as well as coal energy.
According to the draft law, that still has to be approved by the parliament, the first lignite-fired power plant is scheduled to be taken off the grid by the end of this year. Seven other plants, all operated by German energy company RWE, are planned to be shut down by the end of 2022.
The new law also specifies shut-down dates for the remaining coal plants by 2038. Meanwhile, four official reviews of the progress of the coal phase-out are planned, starting in 2022. Staring in 2026, the government would also examine whether the final 2038 deadline for the coal phase-out could be brought forward by three years to 2035.
The German government has already announced that operators, such as RWE, would receive compensation for the early shutdown of their coal power plants. A total of 4.35 billion euros (4.79 billion U.S. dollars) is to be set aside for compensation.
To support the affected areas, the former coal mining regions are to receive a total of 40 billion euros to help them restructure their economies.
Under the draft law, workers in the lignite or hard coal sector aged 58 and over who lose their job as a result of the coal phase-out could apply for an allowance until retirement and for a maximum duration of five years.
In order to meet the country's energy demand after the coal phase-out, Germany "must make real progress in the next step with the expansion of the grids and renewables," Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said.
According to the Agora Energiewende Smart Energy for Europe Platform (SEFEP), the share of renewables in electricity consumption rose to almost 43 percent in Germany last year. The official government target for renewables is 65 percent by 2030.
"The phasing out of climate-damaging coal is an important milestone," Wolfram Axthelm, managing director of the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), told Xinhua on Wednesday. "Renewables must now rapidly replace lignite capacities." (1 euro = 1.10 U.S. dollar)
