NRW state premier casts doubt on 2030 coal exit in Rhineland
WDR / Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger / Clean Energy Wire
The premier of Germany’s most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has cast doubt on whether the planned 2030 deadline for lignite power in the Rhineland mining region will hold, citing concerns about supply security and electricity prices. “Whether and for how long coal power plants will be needed beyond 2030 to secure the power supply must be decided on a sound energy-economic basis,” a spokesperson for Hendrik Wüst of the conservative CDU told public broadcaster WDR and the regional newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.
Germany plans to exit coal-fired power plants nationwide by 2038 at the latest, but the federal government, NRW's state government and utility RWE decided in 2022 to already complete the phase-out in the heavy-industry state by 2030. However, auctions for new gas-fired backup power plants needed to replace the decommissioned coal capacity have been delayed repeatedly, sowing doubts over whether the deadline can be kept.
Under the agreement, the federal government can decide to move RWE’s last three lignite units with a combined capacity of around three gigawatts into a reserve until the end of 2033 at the latest, even if they drop out of regular operation by 31 March 2030. Clean Energy Wire contacted the economy ministry of NRW to clarify whether the state government defines the coal phase-out's completion as the end of regular operation of the plants but did not receive an answer before the publication of this news report.
The country’s first auction for state support for backup power plants concluded only last week, with all winning bids going to gas-fired projects. NRW secured the largest share of any state, with three RWE projects totalling 2.1 gigawatts. The plants are meant to go online in 2031 at the latest - one year after the planned coal exit.
Energy economists have voiced doubts over whether the deadline can be kept. Andreas Löschel of Ruhr University Bochum, who chairs the government’s independent expert commission monitoring the energy transition, told WDR and Kölner Stadt-Anzeigerthat the state “could well run into problems” in the winters of 2031 and 2032 as things stand.
State premier Wüst takes the warning “very seriously”, his spokesperson said, adding that what mattered now was building the new backup plants quickly, and that the state government stood ready to speed up planning and permits. RWE itself has so far stuck to its 2030 timeline, with CEO Markus Krebber saying the early phase-out could still be achieved if enough backup capacity is built.
The state government expects the federal government to present its overdue review of the coal exit once the current auctions for new power plants are complete, the spokesperson said. The federal economy ministry was legally required to assess this by 15 August 2026 but pushed the review into 2027, saying it wanted to factor in the gas power plant auctions.