New gas-fired power plants to generate electricity during periods of low wind and solar output will be built by 2031 in Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Baden-Württemberg. This is the result of the first round of tenders issued by the Federal Network Agency. Starting in 2031, gas-fired power plants will primarily ensure that there is still enough electricity available when wind and solar power are insufficient: The Federal Network Agency has now named the first power plant projects that are set to receive funding for 15 years to maintain so-called generation capacity. They were selected through a bidding process in which 41 bids were submitted. Two additional rounds of bidding are planned. Eleven bids were awarded contracts. The gas-fired power plants are located in Brandenburg (4 awarded contracts), North Rhine-Westphalia (3), Saxony (2), Bavaria (1), and Baden-Württemberg (1). The bidders for these projects were the companies RWE, Leag, Gaskraftwerk Leipheim, and Stadtwerke Karlsruhe. A total of 5,160 megawatts of capacity was awarded. According to the information provided, the average award price was 155,296 euros per megawatt-hour. This results in annual costs of just over 800 million euros for these eleven power plant projects. The costs are to be covered by a new surcharge imposed on all electricity consumers. It remains to be seen by how much electricity prices will rise as a result. The new plants are initially intended to burn natural gas. By 2045 at the latest, however, the gas-fired power plants are to operate “climate-neutrally” using hydrogen. Copyright 2026, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved
