An expanded electricity grid is one of the key ingredients that would enable Germany to cut its coal-fired generation by half in just over a decade, according to the president of the country’s Bundesnetzagentur, or Federal Network Agency.
“Half of coal-fired power plant capacity can disappear by 2030 without any risk to supply,” Jochen Homann told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. But “if you want more green energy faster, then you have to accept grid expansion.”
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He said limited transmission capacity had cost the country an extra €1 billion in 2017 to ensure grid reliability.
Homann also called for new gas-fired generating stations to be brought online on schedule.
“Germany aims to raise wind and solar power’s energy share from a third now to 65% by 2030 to help cut carbon dioxide emissions and achieve its climate commitments, in line with the wishes of the new coalition government,” Reuters reports.
