Merkel plans coal power phase-out after 2017 election – Power Engineering International
August 4, 2016
PEI reports that Germany plans to announce the phase out of its coal-fired power generation sector after the 2017 elections.
It is not clear what time scales are being looked at though. My guess is that Merkel will be looking at a decade or longer.
Meanwhile, in the real world, PEI also report that Russia is to build a 1.4 GW coal plant in Iran.
http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/2016/08/russians-to-build-1-4-gw-coal-plant-in-iran.html
8 Comments
Comments are closed.
NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Frau Merkel has demonstrated her stupid-energy credentials by closing Germany’s nuclear power and allowing the massive solar and wind farm investments in Germany to kill off successful energy companies, so closing coal brings her alongside Amber Rudd in the fools-of -the-world status.
It is more interesting to consider why would Iran buy a coal fired power station when it has oil and gas in-spades. Coal is far more expensive to build, less efficient than gas and (so far as I know), Iran would have to import coal. It seems that they must be taking the long view and expecting to sell oil and LNG in quantity to the energy idiots (i.e. us and all other carbon reduction believers).
I gather that Iran already consumes all the gas it produces, esp for heating. They even have to import gas from Turkmenistan
The problem with natural gas in Iran is location. Cities here, natural gas there. Desert in between. Meanwhile foreign markets available for the gas at less cost than moving it to domestic markets. And foreign energy supplies available for less cost than transporting domestic supplies.
Takeaway for greenies. Sometimes things are really complicated. The less you know about something the simpler it seems. If it is an entire energy system being discussed and it all seems very simple, there is a good chance the speaker doesn’t much about it. Which, of course, is perfectly fine. Unless they are claiming to know that there is a problem, what it is and what is the solution for it.
Thanks for the comments, it is easy to forget how big Iran is and its geographic issues. Did not realise that they imported gas: last time I was there they were flaring vast amounts!
The case for coal in Iran remains obscure: an oil fired power station would be much cheaper than coal with no foreign currency losses. I guess that it shows just how low cost coal generation is compared with all others, if the penal-taxes and the subsidies given to competing technologies were removed
Whatever she plans won’t happen, as she will not get elected again after what she has inflicted on those she is meant to protect.
She has just recently been re-elected, now has at least five years to further wreck the country.
Not according to this:
‘Since the current Bundestag first sat on 22 October 2013, the latest date for the next election is 22 October 2017 (a Sunday). The earliest date is 27 August 2017’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_federal_election,_2017
Her coalition party won (but barely) some important local elections. It was considered a setback for her. She has less real power now than before those elections. That is because the balance of power in the coalition shifted, as well as fewer seats overall.