Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz has thrown his support behind the proposals put forward by Economics Minister Katherina Reiche for changes in energy policy.
"We will not reverse our energy policy, but we will adjust it with regard to the objectives of energy supply security, affordable energy, and environmentally friendly energy," Merz said on Tuesday at the Mechanical Engineering Summit hosted by the VDMA industry association in Berlin. "We will slightly scale back our expansion targets," he added, referring to the cuts in renewable energy expansion announced by Reiche.
Merz emphasized the urgent need for new base-load capable gas power plants, even if these are not hydrogen-ready from day one. There are initial indications from the EU Commission, he said, that the applications for such plants will soon be approved. Before any further power plants are decommissioned, it must first be clear that new ones are coming online. "We cannot afford to continue as we have so far," Merz warned. It is not feasible, he said, "to shut everything down on the off-chance, hoping that someday we'll be able to draw the necessary energy from wind and solar."
On Monday, Reiche presented the monitoring report on the energy transition commissioned by her ministry, calling for a realignment of energy policy with a focus on cost efficiency and supply security. However, the CDU politician remains committed to the goal of climate neutrality by 2045 and a renewable electricity share of 80 percent by 2030. She argued that the 2030 target is still achievable even with a slower expansion of renewables, as electricity demand will be lower than previously expected.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; edited by Christian Götz. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for business and markets).)
