German energy minister rejects fixed date for coal, combustion engine exit

Sigmar Gabriel has assured industry bosses the energy transition’s impacts on industry and the country’s competitiveness would be minimised and market forces would play a greater role in the sector. Germany’s Renewable Energy Act is likely to see further changes in the next legislative period, the country’s economy and energy minister said at the Handelsblatt’s annual energy industry conference in Berlin. Gabriel said reform would be aimed at ensuring affordable financing of the next phase of the Energiewende, which aims to decarbonise the transport and heating sectors. He said more must be done to meet Germany’s climate targets, but rejected fixed deadlines to phase out coal or combustion engines.

For background find a Handelsblatt interview with Gabriel (behind paywall) in German here and read the CLEW article Germany debates form of renewables support as levy rises.

The Clean Energy Wire will publish an article on this topic shortly.