Germany Plans 2 GW Hydrogen‑Ready Power Tender Under Scaled‑Back Strategy
17 November 2025
The German government has scaled back its plans to develop hydrogen‑ready gas-fired power plants to 8 GW, following a compromise between coalition parties. Under the revised strategy, Germany will tender for 8 GW of new gas-fired power plants plus 2 GW of power technologies such as battery storage.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that the gas plants being tendered will be “technically capable of using hydrogen,” but the plan does not set a deadline for when the switch to hydrogen must happen.
The government said that auctions will be held next year for a total of 10 GW of capacity. The new plants are expected to be commissioned by 2032, marking a significant rollback from the previous target of 20 GW by 2030.
Key points of the plan include:
-
The 8 GW of gas‑fired plants will be hydrogen‑ready from the outset.
-
An additional 2 GW, to be tendered in 2026 and 2027, will initially run on gas but must be capable of rapid conversion to hydrogen.
-
All new power plants must meet a carbon‑neutral target by 2045, either through hydrogen conversion or potentially by using carbon capture.
The government will provide subsidies, covering part of the investment (CAPEX) and operational cost differences between natural gas and hydrogen.
This scaled-back approach reflects a compromise between Germany’s coalition partners while keeping hydrogen‑ready technology on the agenda, providing flexibility in transitioning to low-carbon power generation over the next decade.
