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Economics Minister Habeck visiting the Bayreuth municipal utility: 14.5 percent of electricity generation in Germany is currently based on the use of gas
Photo: IMAGO/Boris Schumacher / IMAGO/HMB Media
According to the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, it is currently not possible to do without gas completely in order to avoid jeopardizing the supply to consumers.
Gas is needed especially at peak times in order to be able to cover the demand for electricity at all times, explained Robert Habeck's (Greens) ministry in a paper.
It was responding to a request from FDP leader and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck asked at the weekend that gas should no longer be used to produce electricity.
Habeck would have the opportunity to prevent this.
The Economics Ministry emphasized that measures have already been taken to reduce the use of gas in power generation.
Further measures would follow.
According to a spokesman, a complete abandonment of gas could lead to an electricity crisis and blackouts in the electricity sector, as dpa reports.
“Systemically relevant gas power plants cannot simply be switched off.” These are needed above all in Bavaria.
»There are also gas-fired power plants that produce heat in addition to electricity in order to supply this heat to protected customers, namely consumers, some of whom are also systemically important.«
14.5 percent of electricity in Germany is currently generated with gas
Russia, against which western countries have imposed sanctions because of the attack on Ukraine, has recently delivered significantly less gas to Europe.
Germany therefore intends to use more environmentally harmful hard coal and later in the year lignite power plants again.
14.5 percent of electricity generation in Germany is currently based on the use of gas.
In 2021 it was still around 16 percent.
According to the Economics Ministry, most of the gas generation takes place in CHP plants, which are also important for heat generation.
In power generation, gas is only used when it is really needed.
This is ensured by the so-called merit order principle, according to which cheaper systems have to be used first.
Compared to renewable energies, nuclear power plants and coal-fired power plants, gas has the highest costs.
ani/dpa/Reuters