German Leaders Clash Over Clean Energy Goals as Gas Gains Focus

Leaders in Berlin clashed over whether Germany should slow down the pace of its renewables expansion in order to focus efforts on building new gas-fired power plants, setting the stage for friction in what the coalition has dubbed an “autumn of reforms.”

Chancellor Friedrich Merz backed Economy Minister Katherina Reiche’s view that Germany should “slightly reduce the expansion targets,” he said Tuesday at an event organized by the German Mechanical Engineering Association. A day earlier, Reiche had justified a rollback of renewables subsidies with a report she commissioned, which predicted Germany’s electricity consumption will increase less than previously assumed by 2030.