Exit coal-fired power by ’38:

Discovery

German officials have agreed on a plan to shut down the nation’s coal-fired power plants by the mid to late 2030s that will involve operators getting billions of euros in compensation, the government said Thursday in Berlin.

A year ago, a government-appointed panel recommended that Germany stop burning coal to generate electricity by 2038 at the latest, as part of efforts to curb climate change.

However, efforts to translate that into policy had stalled over recent months. Some areas, particularly in the less prosperous east, are heavily dependent on lignite coal mining.

Federal government officials and governors of affected states agreed on a “path to shut down” coal-powered plants at a meeting that ended in the early hours of Thursday, the government said.

It said that reviews will be carried out in 2026 and 2029 to determine whether Germany can exit coal-fired electricity generation in 2035, three years before the final deadline.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said that operators of coal-fired power plants will be compensated for switching off those facilities earlier than planned.

Operators of plants in western Germany will receive 2.6 billion euros ($2.9 billion), and 1.75 billion euros will go to operators of plants in the east, with the payments being made over about 15 years after the plants are switched off.

“What we have here is a good agreement for climate protection because it makes clear that we mean it seriously,” Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said. He added that the government plans to bring legislation to parliament at the end of this month.(AP)