In order to save natural gas, hard coal-fired power plants are allowed to return from the reserve. The Mehrum kiln in Lower Saxony is therefore being reconnected to the power grid. It is the first registration since the relevant ordinance came into force.
A first hard coal-fired power plant from the reserve is to be started up again soon. It is the Mehrum power plant in Hohenhameln in Lower Saxony (Peine district) between Hanover and Braunschweig, as the Federal Network Agency in Bonn announced. Since July 14, an ordinance has allowed hard coal-fired power plants from the so-called grid reserve to be put back into operation in order to save natural gas.
According to the network agency, Mehrum is so far the only reactor that has been registered for the return to the power grid. In June, natural gas accounted for 11.2 percent of power generation in Germany. The federal government's ordinance allows the sale of electricity from reserve power plants that are fired with hard coal or oil until the end of April 2023.
Starting up again for several months is economically interesting for power plant operators because wholesale electricity prices are currently high. At the same time, there is sufficient hard coal on the world market.
