Germany due to connect coal power plants to grid to save gas - sources

Hard coal-fired power plants that were supposed to be shut down this year and in 2023 will participate in the electricity market for a limited period as long as Germany is the phase 2 "alarm stage" of its three-phase emergency gas plan, the sources said. The regulations, which will come into force once approved by the cabinet this week, aim to reduce gas consumption so filling of storage facilities can continue despite lower supplies.

Germany's cabinet is set to decide on Wednesday steps to reactivate coal-fired power plants in order to reduce gas consumption, economy ministry sources said on Monday, as Berlin braces for a possible extended outage of Russian gas supplies. Hard coal-fired power plants that were supposed to be shut down this year and in 2023 will participate in the electricity market for a limited period as long as Germany is the phase 2 "alarm stage" of its three-phase emergency gas plan, the sources said.

The regulations, which will come into force once approved by the cabinet this week, aim to reduce gas consumption so filling of storage facilities can continue despite lower supplies. According to rough estimates, the move should cover around 1% of Germany's gas consumption.

Germany is in the dark about how much gas, if any, Russia will pump through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline after the end of a 10-day maintenance shutdown that started on Monday, the country's energy regulator told Reuters. The government has asked electricity operators in the south of Germany such as EnBW and Uniper to keep coal-fired power plants ready for operation in case of a gas emergency.

The government will issue more regulations in October to restart lignite-fired power plants if necessary.