Kehler: “Ten Gigawatts Are a Start in the Power Plant Strategy, but Investors Are Still Left in the Dark.”

The leaders of the governing coalition agreed in yesterday’s coalition committee meeting on adjustments to the power plant strategy. For 2026, ten gigawatts of new dispatchable capacity are to be tendered, which are to be connected to the grid by 2031. Eight gigawatts are planned as hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants, while two gigawatts will be tendered on a technology-neutral basis. All new gas units must be “H₂-ready” and must decarbonize by 2045 at the latest. Dr. Timm Kehler, CEO of the German Gas and Hydrogen Industry Association (GW), associates the decision with the hope that clarity will finally emerge regarding the tendering modalities and that urgently needed investments can begin to flow:

“We welcome the fact that the coalition is setting the course for the start of the tendering process and thus preparing the launch of urgently needed additional capacity. Ten gigawatts of dispatchable capacity is an important first step to ensure that electricity supply and industry remain stable in the future climate-neutral system. It is also positive that all new plants must be hydrogen-ready from the outset and can decarbonize in a technology-neutral manner by 2045 – this creates space for a market ramp-up of hydrogen from different production pathways.

At the same time, it is a disgrace that negotiations with the European Union are still not concluded. Investors and suppliers continue to grope in the dark because key details of the power plant tenders are missing. As a result, the urgently needed relief for our electricity system comes too late; missing dispatchable capacity is driving up system costs, which – similar to the industrial electricity price currently approved for three years – must then be cushioned by government compensation payments.

The gas and hydrogen industry is developing the core network, planning hydrogen storage facilities, and is ready to build modern, climate-friendly gas-fired power plants that, as anchor customers, will drive the hydrogen ramp-up. But for this, we now need clarity and reliable framework conditions. The federal government and the European Commission must quickly settle the outstanding questions so that the tenders can start and Germany does not lose any more time on hydrogen.”