Germany puts coal power plant back on network after gas supply cut

Mothballed facility in Lower Saxony gets emergency permission to run until April

A coal-fired power plant that had been mothballed has become the first of its kind to be put back on to the network in Germany, as debate rages over how Europe's largest economy will cope without Russian gas.

The facility in Lower Saxony, which is owned by the Czech energy company EGH, has received emergency permission to run until April in an attempt to boost energy production.