Municipal utilities to pour EUR 6.7bn into construction of new power plants - report

Sep 15, 2011 - German municipal utilities will spend at least EUR 6.7 billion (USD 9.2bn) on the construction of new power plants in the next years, news agency DPA-AFX reported today citing data from the municipal companies association (VKU).

Around EUR 4.5 billion have already been poured into ongoing construction projects, while other projects worth 2.2 billion are awaiting approval, the news agency reported.

The plants to be build are expected to create new capacity of 3,272 MW, corresponding to the output of almost three nuclear power plants.

The planned moves are expected to further boost the 9.8% share of municipal utilities in the overall electricity generation in Germany.

Germany has recently decided to close eight of the country's nuclear power plants with immediate effect and to gradually exit from nuclear energy by 2022. In order to cover potential supply shortages in the coming winters, Germany will keep three gas and coal-fired power plants at standby instead of one of the countries' old nuclear plants.

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