The fossil fuel expansion is needed to ensure long-term energy security, according to industry and the government.

Berlin has agreed to spend €16 billion to build four major natural gas plants to meet electricity demand in a major overhaul of the country’s energy grid.

In a statement Monday, officials said the new strategy came “in addition to the consistent expansion of renewable energies,” and was key to ensuring steady power supplies “even in times where there is little sun and wind.” Politico has the story.

The ruling coalition reached the decision following talks between Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party and the economy minister, Green Party politician Robert Habeck. The deal provides for a market-based capacity-boosting mechanism to expand electricity generation by 2028.

The government has described the fossil gas power plants as “modern, highly flexible and climate-friendly” because they will be capable of conversion to use clean-burning hydrogen gas produced from renewable sources. The plants are projected to produce up to 10 gigawatts of electricity. Tenders for the projects will begin soon.

German energy firm Uniper, which expects to be involved in the construction, said it was “relieved” that the coalition had reached a political consensus on the new plants, adding that “swift action is urgently needed because the approval process and the actual construction of power plants and storage facilities will take several years.”

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