Germany is set to temporarily reactivate its coal and oil power plants if Russia disrupts its supply of natural gas.

On Tuesday, Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck is to present an emergency decree that will allow the government to reactivate plants that were supposed to be shut down in line with the country’s coal exit plan.

“This means that the short-term use of coal-fired plants in the electricity sector is made possible on demand, should the need arise,” the decree, seen by Bloomberg, said.

The emergency decree will be valid until March 31, 2024.

Germany currently has around 45 Gigawatts of coal power capacity in its reserves to ensure the country’s security of supply. Forty per cent of its gas comes from Russia.

In March, Mr Habeck had announced the coal reserves in a bid to cut down Germany’s reliance on Russian gas. The reserves will allow its power plants to run for 30 days of winter without any deliveries. 

This action follows Russia demanding payment for gas in rubles in retaliation to countries sanctioning it for its invasion of Ukraine. Moscow threatened to cut off supplies if its conditions weren’t met.

Last week, Russia cut off its gas exports to Finland, according to Finnish energy provider Gasum, citing correspondence from Russian regulator Gazprom.