Energy & Science
Controversial German Coal-Fired Power Plant to Start This Week
- Uniper’s Datteln-4 plant starts commercial operations Saturday
- Opening comes despite Merkel’s 2038 plan to quit fossil fuel
Uniper's Datteln-4 coal-fired power plant in Datteln.
Photographer: Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images
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Germany’s latest coal plant will enter service this week, angering environmentalists who say it threatens to derail the country’s attempts to slash carbon dioxide emissions.
Uniper’s Datteln-4 will start feeding electricity into the grid on a commercial basis on Saturday, a spokesman for the utility confirmed by email. The 1.5-billion euro ($1.3 billion) facility is already nine years late and over budget because of defects that delayed its connection to the grid.