Berlin could meet 2020 climate targets by shutting down one third of Germany’s coal-fired power plants and offering an extra 9GW of capacity for wind and solar projects, according to Greenpeace research.
A study compiled by Fraunhofer IEE for the campaign group lists 14 block-unit power stations commissioned between 1965 and 1985 with a combined capacity of 6.1GW that would need to be shut down.
In addition, the operation of some 6GW of coal-fired power stations commissioned between 1974 and 2000 will need to be capped at 6000 full-load hours annually, the authors suggested. Their average operation period was 7000 full-load hours in 2016 and 2017, they added.
According to Fraunhofer, these measures will be sufficient to bring Germany’s climate emissions some 40% below 1990 levels if 9GW of additional wind and solar capacity are also implemented in 2019 and 2020.
Earlier this year, the German government pledged to offer some 4GW each for onshore wind and solar plus an additional capacity for offshore wind. Fraunhofer researchers estimate the offshore wind share at 1GW.
If the additional capacity is not offered before the end of 2020 some 7.4GW of coal-fired power plants will need to be shut down and some 7.3GW of coal-fired plants will need to be capped at 6000 full-load hours, the authors said.
Without additional measures, Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions will end up at some 32% below 1990 levels, missing the 40% goal by eight percentage points, a government report suggests.
Image: SXC
Berlin ‘could hit’ 2020 targets
By EBS