Scenarios for Coal-Exit in Germany—A Model-Based Analysis and Implications in the European Context

The political discussion to reduce the carbon footprint of Germany’s electricity sector, focusing on coal, is intensifying. In this paper, we develop scenarios for phasing out lignite and hard coal power plants in Germany prior to the end of their technical lifespan (“coal-exit”). Our analysis bases...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies (Basel) 2020-04, Vol.13 (8), p.2041
Main Authors: Kittel, Martin, Goeke, Leonard, Kemfert, Claudia, Oei, Pao-Yu, Hirschhausen, Christian R. von
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon
Carbon dioxide
Climate effects
Climate policy
Coal
Coal phase-out
Coal-fired power plants
COVID-19
Electric industries
Electric power generation
Electricity
Electricity generation
Electricity modeling
Emissions
Energiewende
Energy policy
Energy transition
Environmental policy
Germany
Greenhouse gases
Industrial plant emissions
Life span
Lignite
Nuclear energy
Nuclear power plants
Power plants
Retirement
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Summary:The political discussion to reduce the carbon footprint of Germany’s electricity sector, focusing on coal, is intensifying. In this paper, we develop scenarios for phasing out lignite and hard coal power plants in Germany prior to the end of their technical lifespan (“coal-exit”). Our analysis bases upon two coal-exit instruments, the retirement of coal generation capacities and the limiting of how much aged coal power plants with high carbon intensity can be used within a year. Results show that phasing out coal in Germany would have a considerable impact on Central European electricity markets, in terms of decarbonization efforts and electricity trade. An ambitious coal-exit could avert foreseeable shortcomings in Germany’s climate performance in the short-run and release additional carbon savings, thus compensating for potential shortfalls in other energy-intensive sectors by 2030. Limited emissions in the range of 27% would be shifted to neighboring countries. However, tremendous positive climate effects on European scale would result, because Germany’s annual emission savings in 2030 would be substantial. Totaling 85 million tons of CO2, the overall net reduction is equivalent to 17.5% of total European emissions in 2030 without retirements of coal-firing power plants prior to the end of their technical lifespan.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en13082041