Germany should halve coal-fired capacity to 2030: deputy Economy Minister

MUNICH (Reuters) - Germany would have to shut 25 gigawatts (GW), or half the current total of coal-fired power stations, by 2030 to meet carbon-cutting targets it has committed to under the Paris climate deal, deputy Economy Minister Rainer Baake said on Tuesday.

Addressing an energy conference, Baake said the measures would have to be worked out by the incoming government after general elections later this month.
"This can be done in line with the law and without compensation, this we know from getting out of nuclear energy," said Baake, who serves as a state secretary in the Berlin ministry and was one of the authors of Germany's exodus from nuclear energy launched in 2001.
He said a fair and detailed plan could be set on its way that would hold no surprises later, adding the heat and transport sectors also needed targets to reach the overall goals.
Germany will miss a 40-percent carbon cutting target by 2020 over the level of 1990 and aims for 50 percent by 2030.
While Baake has no governing powers, any incoming government will have to address the need to further cut climate-harming emissions that are most intense in the fossil fuels-fired electricity sector.

(Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Maria Sheahan)