Criticism from the East of the "southern bonus" for new gas-fired power plants

Schkopau not on the cards?

However, the way the federal government has planned the tender so far does not ensure that the desired distribution will actually be achieved, Willingmann noted. "On the contrary, there is a risk that significantly more than two thirds of the capacities will be created in the south, while the north - which also includes potential power plant locations in Saxony - will (only) be considered disproportionately or, in the worst case, not at all," said the ministry in Magdeburg.

"The federal government favors southern Germany and also North Rhine-Westphalia quite considerably, but obviously does not have the Schkopau power plant on its list," explained Willingmann. Instead of one tender with a southern bonus, there should be two separate tenders: one for the capacity volume in the grid-connected north (one third) and one for the grid-connected south (two thirds).

According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, the requirement for the new gas-fired power plants is that they can be converted to hydrogen use in the future and can be operated completely greenhouse gas-neutral after 2045. Here, too, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt see a need for improvement in the corresponding draft law: clear criteria are needed to ensure that the power plants really can be converted.