Germany on Tuesday warned against a hasty exit from coal-fired power generation, concerned that such a move could pile more pressure on producers still wrestling with the planned shutdown of nuclear plants by 2022.
Calls for the German government to set a timeline for phasing out coal-generated electricity have grown following the climate protection deal struck in Paris last month, Reuters reported.
"When we're talking about the future of coal, I would advise being less ideological about it and to focus more on climate goals and the economic consequences," Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said at an industry conference on Tuesday.
Gabriel said coal should not be tackled in similar "seismic waves", referring to Germany's decision to abandon nuclear power after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 in a move that has been described as too fast.
His comments chime with those made by Germany's largest power producer RWE on Tuesday, when it rejected new calls to phase out coal-fired power generation.
Coal accounted for 60% of RWE's power production in 2014, while the share at rival E.ON was 27%.
