100 Days of the New Government: Positive Impulses – But Clear Rules Needed for Gas Power Plant Tenders

• The federal government is laying the foundation for investments with special funds and the Germany Fund, but the funding architecture needs clear instruments.
• Missing tenders for hydrogen-ready gas power plants are slowing down the hydrogen ramp-up – the government needs to pick up the pace here.
• Bergt: “The cabinet decision on the KSpG is only the beginning. CCU/S is a real location factor for an industrial nation. We now need a clear legal framework so companies can invest.”

After 100 days of the new federal government, die Gas- und Wasserstoffwirtschaft welcomes the announcements in the federal budget and measures such as the Germany Fund. However, without concrete funding instruments and clear tendering modalities for new gas power plants, the hydrogen ramp-up and the development of a CO₂ market risk stalling. The cabinet decision to amend the Carbon Dioxide Storage Act (KSpG) must also now be implemented swiftly.

According to the association, the first months of the new legislative period show that the federal government’s energy policy is moving in the right direction, but with both light and shadow. The special fund “Infrastructure and Climate Neutrality” and the announced Germany Fund open up room for record investments in the transformation, but crucial course-setting is still missing. “It is not enough to simply write investment sums into the budget – we now very quickly need concrete funding instruments so that private capital can flow into networks, storage, and sector coupling,” stresses Bengt Bergt, Head of Public Affairs at Die Gas- und Wasserstoffwirtschaft.

Urgently Initiate Capacity Tenders

The association is particularly critical of the still-stalled power plant strategy. Hydrogen-ready gas power plants are intended to serve as reliable anchor customers for the planned hydrogen core network, secure market ramp-up, and balance volatile renewable electricity generation. “The tenders for the planned H₂-ready capacities are now almost three years overdue. Without clear guidelines for capacity remuneration, no new projects will get off the ground. Every delay slows down the hydrogen ramp-up and risks postponing the coal phase-out,” Bergt continues.

Quickly Provide Legal Certainty for CCU/S

From the association’s perspective, the cabinet decision to amend the Carbon Dioxide Storage Act (KSpG) is a positive signal. It lays the foundation for a CO₂ market and for carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Germany. What is now crucial is that the legal framework is implemented quickly and in a technology-neutral way. “CCU/S is more than just a technical option – it is a real location factor for an industrial nation. We now urgently need a clear legal framework so that companies can invest, and climate protection can go hand in hand with competitiveness,” Bergt summarizes.