Government is working on law: Emergency plan for gas shortage: Old coal-burning plants should step in

It has been apparent for months that gas could become scarce again in the event of a crisis. Instead of taking action on storage, the state is now planning to use coal and oil power plants as reserves.

According to a media report, the federal government wants to oblige operators of coal and oil power plants to be able to step in in the event of a gas shortage. If gas had to be saved, coal and oil plants could be used to generate electricity instead of gas power plants - then more natural gas would be left for industry and private households. According to “Handelsblatt”, this plan is envisaged in a draft law to “maintain replacement power plants”, which is currently being voted on within the federal government.

Coal and oil power plants should therefore be required to be operational and to have fuel stocks. It is still unclear how long the supplies will have to last. All power plants that are in the so-called network reserve will be affected, as the newspaper writes. These no longer take part in the regular electricity market, but are kept available to stabilize the grid.

In addition, plants that would actually be shut down in these years should be included, it goes on to say. However, the power plants are not supposed to be back online permanently; the law is supposed to expire in spring 2028.

Germany's gas supply is fundamentally secured through possible short-term deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, in the event of a crisis, such as the failure of a Norwegian pipeline, unexpected extreme cold or a stop in American LNG deliveries, there could be bottlenecks - apart from a price explosion. The gas storage facilities here are filled significantly less than legally required, currently less than 60 percent. Most storage facilities should have been 80 percent full by the beginning of November.

The reason for the low filling levels is that storage is currently not financially worthwhile. Economics Minister Katherina Reiche had long rejected government intervention until she at least ordered the nationalized Sefe company to buy more gas. The cabinet has just launched a strategic gas reserve for emergencies for the next few years.

According to the report, the draft law on the “preparation of replacement power plants” now states that coal and mineral oil are ideal as crisis prevention.