Germany's future coalition unveils plan to cut electricity costs, boost gas power

BERLIN, April 9 (Reuters) - Germany's future coalition government of the conservative CDU-CSU bloc and the centre-left Social Democrats agreed to reduce the electricity tax and grid fees in a bid to cut electricity prices in Europe's biggest economy by at least 5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The parties agreed to introduce incentives to build up to 20 gigawatts of gas power plant capacity by 2030 and to adopt a legislative package to allow carbon capture and storage, or CCS, including for gas-fired power plants.

They also want to abolish a controversial heating law and a gas storage levy which Berlin introduced in 2022 to cover the costs of replacing Russian gas after Moscow cut deliveries.

Tax rebates for diesel fuel in agriculture will be reintroduced along with new purchase incentives for electric vehicles, the coalition agreement said.