It has been known for years that Hamburg's Economics Senator Michael Westhagemann (independent) and the long-standing Green Senator for the Environment Jens Kerstan often have differences in their content - most recently this also became clear when assessing the feasibility of an LNG terminal in the Port of Hamburg. The incompatibility of the two politicians has not yet become as open as this weekend.
What happened? In an interview with WELT AM SONNTAG, Economics Senator Westhagemann said that in the event of a stop in the supply of Russian natural gas, he thought it conceivable that the decommissioned Moorburg coal-fired power plant could be put back into operation. Literally he said: "At the latest when we realize that Russian natural gas is no longer flowing for a long time, I would also look to Moorburg". Hamburg's industry urgently needs a lot of energy, both natural gas and electricity. Gas-fired systems, such as those used to generate process heat in industry, can sometimes be retrofitted to run on electricity. "But that only makes sense if the power supply is guaranteed."
The coal-fired power station in Moorburg, with an output of 1,600 megawatts, was shut down last year. According to the report, the operator Vattenfall has repeatedly emphasized that it does not want to put the power plant back into operation. Westhagemann countered this in an interview: "It would also be conceivable for another operator to intervene by the federal government," he said. From the business community, he says, he wants the power plant to be connected to the grid again, at least temporarily.
The quotes, which were also distributed via the dpa news agency, immediately caused unrest in the Senate and in particular in the environmental authority. Their boss Jens Kerstan - he agrees on this point with Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD), which is otherwise often not the case - wrote a message on Sunday, which he had distributed through his press office. It says: “Even in these times of crisis, we do not need Moorburg for a secure power supply in northern Germany. We produce enough electricity and even have to reduce it if too much of it is generated by wind power. And we can't transport excess electricity to southern Germany due to a lack of lines either."
In addition, essential components had already been removed from the power plant or rendered technically inoperable; “The highly qualified staff that is difficult to find on the labor market is no longer available. Technically and in view of the high costs, restarting the system would be equivalent to a new construction and is therefore out of the question,” says Kerstan. In addition, Hamburg politicians are planning “future energy policy projects at the location that are indispensable and of enormous importance for Hamburg as a hydrogen location. These plans are associated with tight timelines, which also rule out Moorburg going back into operation.”
With the last sentence of his message, the apparently annoyed Kerstan then addressed his Senate colleagues directly, which has not happened in the recent past: "Senator Westhagemann should actually know that," said Kerstan succinctly. On Tuesday, both have the opportunity to exchange information about their level of knowledge and the associated derivations at the regular Senate meeting.
