(Typo in the 4th paragraph corrected)
COTTBUS (dpa-AFX) - Employees of the energy company Leag fear disadvantages compared to southern Germany in the construction of new gas-fired power plants and plan to protest in the afternoon. The group's works council expects around 1,500 employees to attend a staff meeting at the stadium in Cottbus (1:00 p.m.). Statements by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche (CDU) about a "southern bonus" for new gas-fired power plants are causing concern at Leag in Lusatia.
In addition to Leag management, the chairman of the Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union, Michael Vassiliadis, is also expected to attend the works meeting.
According to Federal Minister of Economics Reiche, a new gas-fired power plant hub is to be established in southern Germany. "We are planning a southern bonus, which will be built with two-thirds of the total capacity put out to tender in the technical south," the CDU politician said in Bavaria at the beginning of June.
The plan is to build up to 20 gigawatts of power plant capacity in Germany and to submit a state request for approval by the EU Commission.
"We've been sitting in the starting blocks for two years," said LEAG CEO Adolf Roesch in February about plans for new gas-fired power plants. In the future, they're supposed to kick in when fluctuating electricity demand can't be met by renewable energies – during "dark doldrums" when the sun isn't shining and there's no wind. /mow/DP/mis
