On the Persistence of Coal - The Case of Germany’s Energy Transition

The transition of the German electricity system is moving on continously. Year after year, new wind parks, photovoltaics and biogas plants were installed. Moreover, the last nuclear power station is planned to be taken off the grid by 2022. In contrast, the coal sector seems to be out of the transitions‘s scope. Whenever the coal-issue appears in public debates, most of the important decisionmakers tend to „forget“ the ambitious goals of climate policy. There is no deadline given for coal power use, nor a binding regulation to exclude the construction of new coal power plants. The proposed paper deals with the question how to explain the coal‘s persistence in Germany. In a first step, it explores the powerful coalition of actors from big business and the political system that advocates for coal. Second, this coalition has triggered and strenghtened discourses that may either improve the acceptance of coal power plants or decrease the public support of renewable energies, e.g: „security of supply and lacking grid stability“, „growing prices for electricity“ and „disappearence of jobs“. Third, the paper pays attention to local actors like citizens‘ initiatives and miners who defend the coal sector. The last part discusses where both coalitions – top-down and bottom-up - reinforce each other and where there might be fractures.