AFP, Frankfurt

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday that if the energy crisis sparked by the Middle East war dragged on, Germany might have to keep running coal-fired power plants longer than planned.

Germany has committed as part of its climate plans to gradually shutting down plants fired by anthracite and lignite and complete the coal phase-out by 2038 at the latest.

“If the energy crisis continues and a shortage actually occurs, we may even have to keep existing coal-fired power plants online for longer,” Merz told a forum in Frankfurt organised by the FAZ newspaper.

“We have to supply this country with electricity. I am not prepared to jeopardise the core of our industry just because we have decided on phase-out plans that have become unrealistic.”

Europe’s biggest economy has for decades pushed an energy transition away from fossil fuels and nuclear energy by building up wind, solar and other clean and renewable energy sources.

While the Merz government has pledged to stick to national climate targets, it has prioritised boosting the stagnating economy and scrapped some green energy initiatives.