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Germany's 6th coal phase-out tender allocates only 472 MW

 The Zolling coal power plant Block 5 and biomass-fired power plant in Bavaria, Germany. Image by Onyx Power.

October 17 (Renewables Now) - Only one power plant in Germany with a capacity of 472 MW will receive compensation from the federal government to stop burning coal from February 21, 2025 following the country's latest coal phase-out tender.

Similarly to the previous round of the auction, the sixth round remained undersubscribed. The Federal Network Agency sought to award compensation for 698.88 MW in capacity and received only two bids. One of the offers was excluded from the competition due to formal reasons.

The only selected bid is the Zolling coal-fired power plant - Block 5 in Bavaria which is owned by Onyx Power. The facility will receive EUR 98,000 (USD 95,226) per megawatt which was the maximum price set for the round.

The 472-MW Zollling hard coal-fired power plant has been in operation since 1985. At the site, Onyx Power operates also a gas turbine plant and a 21-MW biomass cogeneration plant linked to the district heating network.

Despite the difficult situation in the energy markets currently, the long-term goal remains to gradually reduce and end coal-fired power generation in Germany, said the Federal Network Agency's president Klaus Mueller. The power plant selected in the current round will be fully operational in the next two winter seasons, contributing to a stable power supply, Mueller noted.

In the fifth round of the auction held in the spring, Germany accepted bids for retiring coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 1,015 MW. These facilities will discontinue operations by May 27, 2024.

The next and last coal phase-out tender in Germany will take place on June 1, 2023. More details about its terms will be published in the spring.

(EUR 1 = USD 0.972)