
FILE PHOTO: German opposition leader Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union party
German opposition leader vows to build 50 gas-fired power plants if elected
Reuters: BERLIN (Reuters) - Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who is tipped to be Germany's next chancellor, has vowed to build 50 gas-fired power plants if his conservatives win the Feb. 23 snap election, the t-online news outlet reported on Sunday.
"We need to build 50 gas-fired power plants in Germany as quickly as possible, which will be connected to the grid immediately," Merz, who heads the CDU/CSU conservative bloc, told t-online in an interview.
Gas-fired electricity production in Germany jumped by a record 79% in November from the month before as utilities scrambled to offset a second straight month of sharply below-normal output from wind farms.
Wind power output was 25% below year-prior levels in October and November due to slow wind speeds, depriving power firms of a key electricity source just as winter set in. Wind farms supplied 27% of German utility electricity in 2023.
Merz, the head of Germany's CDU/CSU conservative bloc, is in line to succeed Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose fractious coalition with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats collapsed in November over contradictory plans to revive the nation's ailing economy.
He told t-online it had been a "serious strategic mistake" by Scholz's government to "shut down the last three nuclear power plants that guaranteed reliable power generation in the middle of the energy crisis."
In World
-
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky examined a once-classified map of his country's vast rare earth metal deposits in an interview with Reuters on Friday, signaling an attempt to appeal to former U.S. President Donald Trump's deal-making instincts.
-
Former President Donald J. Trump has reportedly held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin regarding a possible end to the war in Ukraine, according to a report by the New York Post. The report, which did not specify the timing of the call or whether it was acknowledged by Russian sources, adds another layer of intrigue to Trump's often ambiguous stance on the conflict.
-
The courts are slamming the brakes on some of President Donald Trump's efforts to quickly trim and transform the federal government.
-
A Space X test flight went spectacularly wrong last month when the Starship craft exploded in the skies above the Caribbean. The explosion littered the sky with debris and looked fresh from a Michael Bay film, but the fallout has been less glamorous for the residents of one tropical island nation who have been left clearing up the space junk that now litters their beaches.
Jurnalistlər niyə həbs olunur? – Ərəstun Oruclu ilə gündəm müzakirəsi Çətin sualda
News Line
-
- Economics,
- 15:08
- 281
Leave a review