“This is rather bad news for the electricity price, because the price of electricity will rise due to the construction of the gas-fired power plants,” Woidke said on Tuesday at Politico’s Competitive Germany Summit in Berlin, according to Welt, Anadolu Agency reported.
Power plant operators will receive payments for keeping generating capacity available, even if their facilities operate for only a few hours a year. The costs will be covered through a levy on electricity consumers starting in 2031.
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Woidke also questioned whether temporary electricity subsidies offered sufficient certainty for companies considering investments in energy-intensive industries.
The remarks came after Germany’s Federal Network Agency awarded 11 contracts in the first tender for long-term electricity capacity, six of them to energy company Leag.
Economy Minister Katherina Reiche welcomed the results, saying the tender had attracted 41 bids with a combined capacity of almost 12 gigawatts, demonstrating strong investor interest.
“We are moving the power plant strategy from the planning stage to implementation, thereby creating the basis for a secure and affordable electricity supply,” she said.
The planned gas-fired plants are intended to provide backup electricity when wind and solar generation is insufficient. They form part of Germany’s strategy to maintain a reliable power supply as it moves toward phasing out coal by 2038.
