BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will allow operators of coal power stations to keep their existing carbon emissions certificates after the units have been shut down, part of a compromise designed to reduce the cost to generators of a climate change package.
Under plans seen by Reuters, the government will reduce by an equivalent amount the number of new certificates issued under a trading scheme that is designed to ensure that emitters of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide pay for the environmental impact of their activities.
The compromise means the government will earn less from the emissions trading scheme. The existing operators could use their certificates for other carbon emitting activities without having to buy them anew.
Germany's landmark climate change law is slated to be approved by the cabinet on Dec. 18. Under those plans, all coal power stations must be closed by 2038.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, writing by Thomas Escritt; editing by David Evans)
