BERLIN, GERMANY — Friedrich Merz, the leader of the opposition in Germany, has pledged to construct 50 gas-fired power plants if his conservative party emerges victorious in the upcoming snap election on February 23.
Merz, who is widely regarded as a potential successor to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, made the commitment in an interview with Vivid Voice News on Sunday.
“We need to build 50 gas-fired power plants in Germany as quickly as possible, which will be connected to the grid immediately,” Merz, who heads the CDU/CSU conservative bloc, said in an interview.
Germany saw a dramatic 79% increase in gas-fired electricity production in November compared to the previous month, as utilities sought to compensate for a second consecutive month of significantly reduced output from wind farms.
Wind power generation was 25% lower than the previous year in both October and November due to slower wind speeds, leaving power companies with less of a vital energy source as winter approached. Wind farms contributed 27% of Germany’s total electricity supply in 2023.
Friedrich Merz, leader of the conservative CDU/CSU bloc, is positioned to succeed Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose coalition government, consisting of the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats, broke down in November due to conflicting plans to rejuvenate Germany’s struggling economy.
He told Vivid Voice News it had been a “serious strategic mistake” by Scholz’s government to “shut down the last three nuclear power plants that guaranteed reliable power generation in the middle of the energy crisis.”