The German cabinet has endorsed the country’s plan to end the use of coal by 2038, pushing the plan a step closer to being passed into law. According to the draft law, owners of hard coal-fired power plants will be compensated by a maximum of €165,000 (US$182,000) per MW of capacity in 2020, which will fall to €155,000 (US$171,000) per MW in 2021 and 2022, and afterwards 25% per year to nothing after 2026, giving a strong incentive to close earlier rather than later. The exit from brown coal is expected to occur later, probably due to the fact that the domestic mining industry is more focused on lignite. In total, the assistance package to smooth the transition from coal will be worth more than €40 billion euros (US$44 billion).