With growing awareness of climate change, coal-fired power plants may become a thing of the past.

On Thursday, even as a group of visitors toured the inside of a cooling tower (left) at the Mehrum coal-fired power plant in Germany, the country's officials decided when to stop using coal.

Germany could end electricity generation from coal in 2035, three years earlier than planned, under a pact sealed on Thursday by Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders, Agence France-Presse reported.

The government said reviews will be carried out in 2026 and 2029 to determine whether Germany can exit coal-fired electricity generation three years before the final deadline of 2038.

The deal would also spare the ancient Hambach forest in western Germany, which was threatened by the expansion of a vast brown coal mine that became the focus of mass protests by environmentalists.