Global business
Is Germany looking again at coal-powered electricity?
22.06.2026
They have a word for it in German – kohleausstieg, which means "coal phase out".
Germany is the biggest user of coal for power generation in Europe, and the fourth largest in the world after China, India and the US. But it has pledged to stop using it altogether by 2038.
For lignite, the low-quality soft coal that is the most polluting, Germany has even brought the phase out forward to 2030.
Currently some 20% of German power generation comes from coal, but it wishes to end this as it focuses on growing wind and solar.
In fact, Germany already gets more than half of its...
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