The power plant in Bexbach, Germany, is stockpiling its coal storage in preparation for a return to full-time power generation. (Daniel Etter for The Washington Post) Comment on this story Comment BEXBACH, Germany — The last coal pits around Bexbach closed a decade ago, leaving the power plant spewing pollutants as a relic of a dying regional industry. But now the plant’s equipment is being repaired, the contractors are out of retirement, and manager Michael Lux is facing a new prospect: expanding the workforce. “It’s a good feeling to be recruited,” he said, as he sat down to discuss plans to move Bexbach, in the southwestern German state of Saarland, from reserve status to full capacity. By winter, Lux expects to burn at least 100,000 metric tons of coal a month, which some in the industry have called a “spring break” for Germany’s coal-fired power plants. It is part of a pan-European effort to ditch Russian gas and escape President Vladimir Putin’s energy stranglehold. While the war in Ukraine has simultaneously supercharged the European Union’s race for renewable energy, fossil fuels still provide the quickest solution. Amid a summer heat wave, Germany worries about having enough natural gas for the winter France, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands have all announced plans to reactivate old coal-fired power stations. But nowhere are the plans as far-reaching as in Germany, which is allowing 21 coal plants to restart or operate beyond their planned shutdown dates for the next two winters. That means a fight for an industry that was on a killing spree in Germany. The country will have to import more coal from producers such as Australia and South Africa, even as those countries face pressure to reduce coal burning at home. And some experts warn that a resurgence in coal could make it harder for Germany to meet its climate goals. Horst Haefner gestured to the piles of coal in the Bechsbach storage yard: “Everyone wants to get rid of it, but they can’t do without it.” Heefner, 70, agreed to come out of retirement to work in Bexbach, checking machinery at the factory he last inspected in 2004. It beats pottering in the garden, he said, as other workers took a break in the shade. With temperatures reaching 91 degrees Fahrenheit, the day was so unusually hot for the area that the local beer garden had closed early for a “heat day.” It was a reminder of why countries are committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels like coal — and what’s at stake if they don’t.
More carbon, more emissions As Putin clamps down on gas flows to Europe – in what EU officials claim is retaliation for their support for Ukraine – Germany is scrambling to conserve energy. It is also urgently looking for alternative sources of energy. And he has few options. Russia’s Gazprom to cut gas to Germany as Putin heightens uncertainty in Europe Boosting renewables takes time. The new LNG terminals have not yet been completed. The government is considering keeping the last three nuclear power plants online after their planned shutdown date at the end of the year, but they represent a relatively small part of the county’s electricity generation. The German government, which includes the Greens as part of its coalition, has described the coal revival as a painful but necessary move — and assures it will be temporary. Germany has simultaneously committed to a new target of 80% renewable energy by 2030 — double the current contribution. It has begun to ease the permitting process for windmills and boost the development of renewable energy that many analysts say stagnated under former Chancellor Angela Merkel. This push, the government claims, will help the country meet its climate goals and end coal use by 2030. “If it happened in a vacuum and we didn’t have all this other legislation paired up, then I would be concerned,” said Ysanne Choksey, fossil fuel transition policy adviser at E3G, a climate think tank. But some experts are concerned about the short-term rise in emissions for Germany — and whether it will be harder for the country to meet that 2030 goal: cutting emissions by at least 65 percent of 1990 levels. To get there, energy sector emissions need to be reduced “substantially and as quickly as possible,” said Simon Müller, director of Agora Energiewende in Germany, a climate-focused nonprofit. However, Agora estimates that fossil fuel plants revived or allowed to remain open will add between 20 and 30 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, equivalent to about 4 percent of Germany’s total emissions. Whether Germany will exceed its budget of 257 million tonnes of carbon emissions for the energy sector this year remains uncertain, Mueller said. “What is certain,” he said, “is that only a massive deployment of renewables and grid expansion will break our dependence on fossil energy imports and put us on track to meet Germany’s 2030 climate target.” Is nuclear power green? France and Germany lead opposing camps. In Germany last year, partly due to low winds and the already rising price of natural gas, coal and lignite accounted for 28% of electricity generation — contributing to a 4.5% increase in total emissions over the previous year. Of course, it’s not just Germany that’s off track. Despite global commitments to cut emissions, last year was a record year for carbon globally. As the world emerged from the pandemic and demand for electricity increased, more coal was burned to generate electricity than at any other time in history. This year she is ready to break records again. Claudia Kemfert, head of energy and environment at the German Institute for Economic Research, said that even with a government that has put climate policy at the forefront, the red tape that has held back the country’s renewable energy industry has not been sufficiently eliminated. . “We’re not going to meet the climate goals in the short term,” Kaempfert said. Relying more on coal is now a “necessary step”, he said. “We are paying the price of 10 years of failed energy policy.”
What it takes to resurrect a coal plant It remains unclear how many of the coal plants now allowed to operate fully will choose to do so this winter. Energy companies will weigh the costs of the necessary investments against the potential gains. On Monday, the Mehrum plant in Lower Saxony was the first to come out of standby mode, according to the Federal Network Agency. Managers at Bexbach say their 40-year-old plant aims to return to full-time service, along with its sister unit, Weiher, about 14 miles to the west. “The liability is fully understood,” Lux said. Just five years ago, power company Steag tried to shut down these plants, deeming them unprofitable as cheap natural gas flowed in from Russia. The German government has mandated that they be placed in “grid reserve” — so they can be called on when needed to fill imbalances in the energy grid, with the cost of running paid by the government. Bexbach only burned 319 hours last year. Rising again brings challenges. In addition to keeping factories fully operational, managers must find skilled personnel and procure supplies. Bexbach was built to burn local coal, but the last coal mine in the area closed in 2012. Before the war in Ukraine, Russia supplied much of the imported coal used in German factories. But with the EU’s embargo on Russian coal coming into effect in August, energy companies have had to look elsewhere: to South Africa, Australia and Colombia’s Cerrejón mine, also known as “The Monster” and notorious for its poor environmental history and safety. To reach an inland plant like Bexbach, this coal must be transported hundreds of miles by land or by train from the ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp. And the contraction in the sector has led to congestion, with coal inventories at European ports piling up to a three-year high. “The whole market expected the decline in coal consumption: the ports, the rail companies, the barge companies,” said Stephan Riezler, head of trading at Steag. For other plants receiving coal by barge, there is an additional problem of low water levels on the Rhine River, a logistics artery for German industry, with barges unable to fully load. The government has now prioritized coal freight on its rail lines in a bid to speed up deliveries – which a transport alliance has warned could have a negative impact on public transport. As it grows, the industry is pushing for longer-term guarantees, which the country’s Green Economy ministry is unlikely to offer. Alex Bethe, president of the German Coal Importers Association, said there was a need for a “signal” from the government that “we have a five-year perspective to justify hiring staff, making investments and improvements”. Under the new coal law, plants such as Bexbach that plan to return to the market have been told to fill their stockpiles with 180,000 tonnes of coal, which energy companies say is a financial risk. “So we’re saying to the government: This is a great idea, we want to save the country in the winter, but what we need is a line of credit,” Riesler said, as he sat down with plant managers to discuss what was needed. to re-enter the market. But even with rising coal prices, there’s money to be made and managers say it’s just a matter of working out the details. “We’re going to do everything we can to get all those millions of tons into the power plants,” Bethe said. Florian Neuhof in Berlin contributed to this report.
