BERLIN: The German government has decided not to impose tax on old coal-fired power generation plants.
Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that the government took the decision after fierce opposition from unions and operators. Instead it will shutter some of the old coal plants in coming years and keep them on stand-by during power shortfalls, as it increasingly relies on renewable energy to meet its climate goals.
Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor, announced that his planned levy on the biggest polluters had been dropped after talks by members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s left-right coalition.
“Companies and trade unions said to us that that would not work… and that we would create thousands of jobless,” Gabriel, a Social Democrat, said on public broadcaster ARD.
However Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, stands by its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 2020 by 40 percent compared to 1990 levels, the government said.
Instead of the new tax, it plans to gradually mothball several coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 2.7 gigawatts by 2020 and compensate the operators.
Gabriel said for these plants it would not just be a question of a few less operating hours, but that they would be “really closed” and serve as a reserve in case of severe shortfalls.
