Germany will extend the operation of its last three nuclear power plants, at least until April 2023, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Monday, October 17, in the context of the global energy crisis.
“The legal bases will be created to allow the operation of the Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland nuclear power plants beyond December 31, 2022 and until April 15, 2023”specifies a letter from the chancellor to the government that AFP was able to consult.
Reduce energy dependence
His coalition government had so far only agreed on maintaining two of the three power plants beyond the end of 2022, the date initially planned for a nuclear phase-out. The Emsland power station in the north of the country was at the heart of a showdown within the ruling coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals, torn over the solutions to be found in the face of the crisis. energy born of the war in Ukraine.
The chancellor therefore finally decided on Monday, in an emergency context, where the first European economy is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian energy imports, in particular its gas. FDP Justice Minister Marco Buschmann praised Chancellor Scholz’s decision on Twitter.
“Common sense prevails… This strengthens our country because it ensures greater grid stability and lower electricity prices”he rejoices, while nuclear power currently produces 6% of net electricity production in Germany.
Snub for the Greens
But this decision is a new blow for the German Minister of the Economy, the ecologist Robert Habeck, whose frictions with his finance colleague, the liberal Christian Lindner, are increasingly obvious.
The Chancellor’s decision is “a snub for Habeck”commented the German daily Bild, Monday. Environment Minister Steffi Lemke of the Greens welcomed the « clarification » made by Olaf Scholz, which according to her does not in any way mean an abandonment of the eventual exit from nuclear power. “Germany will finally phase out nuclear power on April 15, 2023”there will be no “life extension” power plants, said the minister confidently on Twitter.
The NGO Greenpeace called Scholz’s decision a« irresponsible ». “Extending the life of nuclear power plants puts us all at unjustifiable risk”said Greenpeace Germany executive director Martin Kaiser.
Population hostile to the atom
Initially, Germany, a large part of the population of which is hostile to the atom, intended to close its last three nuclear reactors in operation at the end of 2022. But the government of Olaf Scholz reversed this decision after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and had decided in September to extend two of the three plants still in operation until the spring of 2023, blaming France for its poor network, in the context of an energy shortage orchestrated by Russia after the invasion of the Ukraine.
About twenty reactors out of the 56 in the French fleet are in fact unavailable due to maintenance operations or corrosion problems. EDF has promised their gradual restart by February 2023.