The recently announced agreement seemed clear. The EU Commission is allowing Germany to build around 20 new gas power plants, said Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) in mid-January. But it may not stay that way – this is what a ministry paper from German Environmental Aid (DUH) suggests. published hat.
The number of new power plants that may be able to run on green hydrogen in the future, but will initially be fueled by fossil natural gas, is ecologically important. It also depends on whether Germany will become climate neutral in 2045, as required by law. In recent months, Reiche has often called for significantly more additional gas power plants than are now included in the agreement with the EU.
The paper published by Environmental Aid, dated December 31, 2025, defines the next steps to be agreed between the EU Commission and the ministry. Reiche announced the first part of this on January 16th.
Accordingly, public tenders are to start this year to create 12 gigawatts (12 billion watts) of additional power plant capacity – the largest part, 10 gigawatts, in the form of around 20 new gas power plants. These must be designed in such a way that they can be converted from natural gas to hydrogen at some point. The smaller remainder will be advertised in a technology-neutral manner.
Ministry of Economic Affairs does not want to comment on paper
The scale corresponds to that which Reiche’s predecessor in the ministerial office, the Green Robert Habeck, had already negotiated. The construction of additional gas power plants is generally considered necessary because solar and wind power plants cannot completely guarantee the electricity supply for the time being.
However, the paper also talks about further steps. An additional 29 gigawatts of electricity capacity will be added through tenders in 2027 and 2029 to cover gaps in an emergency. The entire package therefore comprises 41 gigawatts.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs does not want to comment specifically on the paper. However, ministry circles say that the additional tenders are planned to be completely technology-neutral. This means that operators of battery storage systems that store solar or wind power when it is in abundance could also apply. Different types of power plants would be permitted – except for plants that burn coal. This means that climate-damaging gas power plants could very well take part. However, this can also involve existing systems whose operators would shut them down or let them run on the back burner without government help.
With her plans to build new gas power plants, the Federal Minister of Economics is openly challenging Germany’s climate goals
Sascha Müller-Kraenner, German Environmental Aid
DUH managing director Sascha Müller-Kraenner now criticizes: “With her plans to build new gas power plants, the Federal Minister of Economics is openly putting Germany’s climate targets at risk.” With the “completely oversized 41 gigawatts” “Riche probably wants to secure the long-term business of the large energy companies”. However, Müller-Kraenner admits that “there is no pre-determination of a technology for further capacities after 2026”, so it is not just about gas power plants.
Nevertheless, the DUH managing director argues: “It seems premature to us to tender such large capacities as early as 2027 and 2029.” Many development variables are unclear, such as “the further speed of the expansion of renewable energies, the speed of network expansion and expansion” and the amount of future battery storage.
The DUH also complains that the plans do not contain any specification as to when the additional gas power plants would be converted to climate-neutral, green hydrogen. However, the official goal of climate neutrality is 2045 anyway – by then hardly any carbon dioxide will be allowed to escape from power plants. And according to the current regulations, the price of carbon dioxide is likely to be very high, so that operators have no choice but to convert their systems to climate-neutral hydrogen or shut them down.