A compromise too far? As Russia curbs gas flow, Germany restarts its coal power plants to avoid blackmail

Amid fears of gas shortages with Russia curbing capacity, Germany's two houses of Parliament have taken the "painful but necessary" decision to reactivate the country's coal-fired power plants in order to support electricity generation reports the Guardian. This is a major setback to Germany's plans to phase out carbon-intensive coal by 2030. Environmental campaigners argue that this move to use the highly polluting form of energy is a compromise too far, given that the country already rusks missing even the most basic climate targets it had set. Some argue that withBerlin hugely dependent on gas supplies from Russia what can the nation do, but restart the "mothballed" coal power plants.

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Since the Russian aggression on Ukraine started in February of this year, Gas has become an even more volatile commodity than before.Given the Western sanction on it, Russia is pushing back by reducing the flow of its exports. Germany, which is highly dependent on Moscow's supplies says it had to take this step to restart coal power plants.

By utilising coal to make power instead of gas, which must be saved for a variety of industrial activities, these steps intend to gradually wean Germany off Russian gas and reduce its vulnerability to blackmail. Italso aimsto keep energy supplies at a steady level before winter.

The government's environmentalist minister of economy, Robert Habeck, referred to the German parliament's action as "painful but necessary."The coalition government's leadingGreens alsosupport it, arguing that it is necessary as a short-term crisis management measure.

As per the Guardian report business leaders have applauded the action. The Federation of German Industries (BDI) referred to the decision as "better late than never" in a statement.

When the war started, Germany's gas storage tanks were only around one-third filled. Afterefforts to acquire supplies from other sources, andin spite of cost-cutting measures they on Friday stood at around 63 per cent capacity. However, they are still a long way from the 90 per cent target set for 1 November, which experts say should be enough to get Germany through the winter.

(With inputs from agencies)

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