From the point of view of the outgoing Prime Minister Armin Laschet (CDU), North Rhine-Westphalia would be armed for an earlier exit from lignite.
If the federal government makes a new decision to end lignite generation more quickly, NRW should be prepared, said Laschet on Saturday at a state party conference of the NRW CDU in Bielefeld.
Bielefeld - The lead decision of the black and yellow state government on lignite already includes the possibility that villages that, according to the previous plans, would fall victim to the lignite excavators, could then be preserved, said Laschet.
The decisive criterion is whether security of supply can be maintained.
According to the previous planning, the last lignite power plant in North Rhine-Westphalia is to be shut down by 2038.
But there is the prospect that this may be possible by 2030, said Laschet.
In the early afternoon it is planned that the state party congress of North Rhine-Westphalia will elect Hendrik Wüst as the successor to Laschet as the new party leader.
Wüst (46) is expected to be elected as the new Prime Minister in the state parliament next Wednesday.
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The personnel change will be necessary after Laschet, who ran as candidate for chancellor of the Union this year, had already decided before the federal election not to remain in his offices in North Rhine-Westphalia even if he failed.
dpa
