UPDATED - Utilities File Applications to Close 28 Plants in Germany

Jochen Homann, president of the Bundesnetzagentur, said that utilities submitted applications to shut down 28 power plant units in Germany from next year.

In an interview to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Homann said that the Bundesnetzagentur is considering the applications. The German Federal Network Agency is called to decide whether to accept all of them or just some. The ones rejected will then involve compensations to the companies. 

"Currently, we are looking at applications to shut down 28 power plant units with a capacity of about 7,000 megawatt (MW), about 2,000 MW of which in southern Germany," Homann told the German newspaper.

Norway’s Statkraft put two gas power plants in cold reserve in the last 16 months, while RWE announced its plan to take power stations offline, advocating that the continuing boom in solar energy makes many European stations unprofitable.

"If these power units are deemed systemically relevant by the transmission system operators (TSO), the Bundesnetzagentur can and will, where necessary, decide to keep these units connected to the grid. In that case, the operators will receive compensation payments," explained Homann.

Wholesale prices in Germany decreased by 20% in the first six months of 2013.