Germany hard coal power plant capacity
Germany hard coal power plant capacity stood at 15.21 GW in 2025, according to Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE – energy-charts.info. It is one of the indicators in the Installed conventional capacity table (Value · Annual), with a complete series running from 2002 to 2025. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Installed conventional capacity table
| Indicator | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermal and nuclear | |||||||||||
| Hard coal | 15.21 | 15.39 | 18.26 | 18.33 | 18.36 | 23.06 | 22.03 | 23.3 | 24.59 | 27.02 | |
| Natural gas | 35.35 | 35.68 | 35.73 | 34.06 | 31.93 | 31.12 | 30.49 | 30.65 | 30.35 | 29.98 |
Understanding germany hard coal power plant capacity
Thermal power stations utilizing anthracite and bituminous fuel form this category, measured in GW at the close of the calendar period. The classification strictly separates these units from brown coal infrastructure, reflecting their distinct supply chains, which frequently depend on imported shipments via ports and rail. Included within the boundary are standard pulverized combustion boilers and combined heat and power installations where hard coal is the primary feedstock. Small-scale backup generators and facilities converted entirely to biomass are excluded.
Evaluating this generation base depends entirely on year-on-year comparisons to track the long-term phase-out of emission-heavy infrastructure. As an annual metric, it hides intra-year fluctuations and temporary shutdowns for environmental retrofitting. Revisions occasionally occur when mixed-fuel sites update their primary operating fuel declarations. Users should note that an unchanged capacity figure does not imply steady operations, as these mid-merit plants often ramp their actual generation up and down according to market conditions while their nominal rating remains static.
Frequently asked questions
- Are combined heat and power plants included?
- Facilities that produce both electricity and heat are counted in the total provided their primary designated fuel is hard coal.
- Does a drop in capacity mean immediate dismantling?
- A reduction simply indicates a plant has lost its commercial operating license, which happens long before physical demolition begins.
- What happens if a plant switches to burning biomass?
- Once a unit is permanently converted to run entirely on alternative fuels, its rating is removed from this specific classification.