Uniper slows down its green transition, stronger focus on gas

German energy company Uniper has scaled back its plans for the share of clean electricity production in its portfolio by 2030. Until now, the company had said that more than 80 percent of its power portfolio would be “green” by that year. It now said that it expects that “at least 50 percent of its generating capacity will be renewable, low-carbon, or decarbonisable.”

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported that CEO Michael Lewis told journalists that this would also include gas-fired power plants which could later be converted to run on hydrogen, or equipped with carbon capture technology. The energy transition had to be implemented ‘somewhat more slowly than expected’, Lewis said, adding that the market and regulatory environment was challenging.

Germany plans to incentivise the construction of new gas power plants of up to 20 gigawatts of capacity by 2030 to serve as backup for intermittent renewable electricity generation as the country phases out coal. Uniper said it aimed to participate in the auctions. “This means that by 2030, we will have more gas-fired power plants in our portfolio than previously expected. We are focusing on this flexible capacity because the German government needs flexible capacity,” said CEO Lewis according to business-daily Handelsblatt.

Germany’s energy industry is eagerly awaiting the economy ministry’s “reality check” on the risks and costs of the transition to renewable energies. The report could have a sizeable impact on the course of the energy transition – according to the coalition agreement, it will form the basis for future energy policy. A fresh forecast of future electricity demand and an assessment of grid expansion are set to be central to the report. Climate policy advocates and the renewables industry fear that the monitoring could result in a significant slowdown in the rollout of renewables.

As Germany's largest gas importer, Uniper found itself in dire straits in 2022 when Russia stopped supplying gas following its invasion of Ukraine. The German state supported the company with billions of euros and became the majority shareholder with over 99 percent of the shares. Uniper is in the process of being reprivatized.

Germany aims to bring the renewables share in power consumption to 80 percent by 2030.