1Komma5° — whose shareholders include Hamilton Lane Inc. and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System — says it’s disadvantaged by the project to construct as much as 20 gigawatts of gas-fueled stations. The company says the build-out would be a waste of subsidies and incompatible with climate goals.
While unlikely to thwart the government’s plans, the complaint shows the strain between Germany’s gas companies and renewable-energy firms, which have jostled for dominance since the nation pulled the plug on nuclear power back in 2023. The Economy Ministry already said last month that the gas-plant project would likely be pushed back, with EU talks over state aid still not finalized.
“We want equal treatment,” Philipp Schröder, 1Komma5°’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. His firm operates a so-called virtual power plant, which aggregates household solar and other small energy providers into a network that can dispatch electricity like a power station. By storing energy and selling it back to the grid during peak periods, such a system can help keep the market in balance.
Europe’s largest economy will need 22 to 36 gigawatts of additional capacity by 2035 to help keep the lights on, according to Federal Network Agency estimates.
The European Commission didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Bloomberg, October 21, 2025)