Germany plans investor-friendly reforms for gas power stations

(Corrects paragraph 2 to specify that bids are 'per megawatt')

BERLIN, July 6 (Reuters) - Germany's governing coalition has agreed to reforms aimed at encouraging the construction of gas power stations and attracting investment, according to a draft legislative document to be put to parliament on Thursday.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives and their Social Democrat partners plan to raise the maximum permissible bid for tenders to €244,000 ($280,000) per megawatt from €173,000.

The move is part of government plans to tender 12 gigawatts (GW) worth of capacity in 2026, with a focus on gas-fired sites, to support the country's continuing phase-out of coal-fired power capacity.

The BDEW energy industry association welcomed the move, which managing director Kerstin Andreae said "ensures the economic viability of investments in modern gas-fired power plants" amid rising costs.

The environmentalist Greens criticised the planned reforms. "This coalition is letting costs for gas power stations explode," said Michael Kellner, who speaks for the party on energy policy.

The reforms also foresee changes to a rule requiring uninterrupted power supply of over 10 hours to make it more investor friendly.

The expansion is to be managed regionally, with one-third of tender volume developed in northern Germany, and two-thirds in the south.

The BDEW called for the measures to be passed before the German parliament's summer recess and approved by the European Commission, allowing the next tenders to take place in September and December of this year.

($1 = 0.8742 euros)

(Reporting by Holger Hansen, Writing by Rachel More, Editing by William Maclean)