ESSEN, Germany (Reuters) – Germany’s next government must pick up a stalled draft law on the development of new gas-powered generation capacity quickly, the head of major utility EnBW said at an industry event on Monday.
EnBW is one of a number of companies wanting to build new power stations, along with Uniper and STEAG.
A bill for the construction and modernisation of 12.5 gigawatts (GW) of gas power plants was dropped by the now dissolved government coalition last year as it could not reach consensus internally, and with the industry, on its details.
A general election is scheduled for February 23, with coalition talks likely to follow as polls suggest no party will have an absolute majority.
Any new government “must decide on the power plant strategy,” said Georg Stamatelopoulos, CEO of the south-western company that provides services such as power and gas and electric mobility infrastructure, on the sidelines of the E-World conference in Essen.
“The message has been received that it must be quick,” he added.
Stamatelopoulos said the industry needs clarity on an accompanying market design by 2027/28 so that power generators can compete in government tenders to build new capacity.
EnBW estimates 20 GW of new capacity are needed up to 2030 to safeguard system stability on the power grids, which by that stage should receive 80% of their supply from wind or solar panels, while carbon-polluting coal plants are being shut.
(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff and Vera Eckert; Editing by Jan Harvey)
