Saxony's regional development ministry criticizes federal funding programme for coal regions

New opportunities for innovative projects

The federal government had previously published the revised funding guideline "Strengthening transformation dynamics and new departures in the coal mining areas and at coal-fired power plant sites" - also known as "STARK".

These innovations should make it possible to fund projects for the production of batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, electrolysers and equipment for CO2 capture, use and storage. A new feature is the possibility of covering up to 40 percent of eligible investment costs. In addition, investments in some existing funding categories are also eligible for funding with immediate effect.

The federal government is supporting the coal regions in phasing out climate-damaging coal-fired power generation with billions in funding. Politicians and the energy company RWE have agreed to phase out coal in the Rhineland region eight years earlier, in 2030. Habeck had said at the beginning of 2023 that a phase-out brought forward to 2030 in the east would also have to be agreed by consensus.