German needs to keep the conventional plants “urgently” to cover fluctuating supplies from renewable energy in the coming years, Stefan Kapferer, chairman of German utility lobby group BDEW, said by e-mail.

Hildegard Mueller, a board member of Innogy SE, repeated last week a call for a so-called capacity market, a stance backed by Germany’s largest power producer RWE AG, the news service reported.

Utilities...