Dresden (dpa / sn) - Saxony's Energy and Climate Protection Minister Wolfram Günther (Greens) assumes that lignite will be phased out earlier. "For economic reasons, lignite-fired power generation in Central Germany and Lusatia will end well before 2038. Companies are getting to the point where it simply no longer pays off," he told the German Press Agency on Monday. This was clearly foreseeable even before the current energy price crisis began. "That will continue to apply after the crisis has been overcome." Günther thus represents a different position than the Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU), who repeatedly warned against a premature end to coal production and called for reliability.
"If Saxony is to remain an economically successful industrial and energy state, we must actively support this market-driven phase-out of coal. If we don't do that, Saxony is threatened with deindustrialization. The question is: do we remain an energy and industrial state or not," Günther clarified . The phase-out of coal before 2038 is no longer a question of whether, but only of how. "Coal is flying out of the markets. However, the coal phase-out can be shaped politically so that it is socially just and offers economic prospects."
Günther sees two major tasks for Saxony: "We have to accelerate the expansion of renewables, with all our strength. And we have to adapt the instruments for structural change to the market-driven phase-out of coal." He wants Saxony to remain an energy and industrial state and for the economy to be able to rely on secure, inexpensive electricity from renewable energies. "And I want Saxony to reap the huge economic opportunities of the energy transition - from the trades to the Saxon solar and semiconductor industry." Without the accelerated expansion of renewables, Saxony could face the loss of industry.
"The same applies: We have to get out of coal as quickly as possible, also for reasons of climate protection policy. We have to comply with a national climate protection law," Günther said in conclusion. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck spoke out in favor of an earlier exit from coal in the East on Sunday. An early exit to 2030 must be agreed by consensus, said the Green politician.
