A key commission comprised of politicians, environmentalists and labour representatives set up by the government in early 2018 to devise a plan for the phase out of fossil power generation in German in its final recommendations has suggested an exit from coal and lignite by 2038 at the latest.

The long-awaited compromise is likely to result in an acceleration of the renewables expansion in Europe’s biggest economy as some 40GW of coal and lignite capacity will need to be switched off in the coming 19 years.