Germany is planning to more than double incentives to retrofit hardcoal-fired power plants, coalition sources told Reuters on Thursday, as part of the country's effort to cut pollution.

Coal plants which are no older than a decade will become eligible for a subsidy of 390 euros ($438) per kilowatt of installed capacity if they switch to gas or biomass, the sources said, which would be more than twice the 180 euros envisaged in the original law draft.

That support will then drop by 10-20 euros a year, they added.

Germany, whose coal plant operators include RWE, Uniper and EnBW, has decided to completely abandon coal as a source of energy by 2038.

(Reporting by Markus Wacket; Writing by Christoph Steitz)