Posted on 09/05/2022 11:29:46 PM PDT by Widget Jr
Berlin (AFP) – Germany said Monday it would keep two nuclear plants on standby beyond the end of the year in a policy U-turn, as the shut-off of Russian gas supplies sends Europe scrambling for energy sources.
Following a new network stress test, two of the three remaining power plants would "remain available until mid-April 2023 in case needed", Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.
The move partly delays a nuclear exit planned under former chancellor Angela Merkel.
The plants would be kept in reserve to potentially "make a further contribution to the electricity grid in southern Germany", where the development of renewable power was lagging the north.
Habeck said such a crisis was still "extremely unlikely" and assured that Germany had a "very high security of supply".
The Green minister also underlined that Germany was not wavering from its plan to move on from nuclear energy, with all plants being unplugged from the grid at the end of the year.
"New fuel rods will not be put in and after mid-April 2023 it is also over for the reserve," Habeck said.
An initial stress test in March had found that the remaining nuclear fleet was not needed to ensure energy security, leading to the conclusion that they could be phased out by year's end as originally planned.
But the electricity market has since been upended by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with power bills soaring in part because Moscow has slashed energy supplies to Europe.
"War and the climate crisis are having a very concrete impact," Habeck said, referring to a summer drought that has dried up Germany's rivers and impeded fuel transport.
Merkel spectacularly decided to ditch atomic energy in 2011 following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.
Extending the lifetime of the plants, which account for six percent of the country's electricity output, has set off a heated debate in Germany, where nuclear power has been a source of controversy stretching back before Merkel's decision.
The move is especially sensitive for Habeck, whose Green party has its roots in the anti-nuclear movement.
But Germany has already moved to restart mothballed coal power plants and fill gas storage ahead of the winter to guard against an energy shortfall.
Last week, Russian energy giant Gazprom said it would not restart gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline Saturday as planned after a three-day maintenance, pinning the blame on Western sanctions.
"Problems with pumping (gas) arose due to sanctions that were imposed against our country," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday.
Germany no longer takes Russian supplies into account in its energy security considerations, said Habeck, saying it was "not a surprise" that Moscow did not restart gas flows via Nord Stream 1.
"The only thing that is reliable from Russia is lies," he said, adding that "we will have to solve our problems without consideration of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's erratic decisions, and that's what we will do."
Swift government action meant Germany would "get through this winter" with the energy it needed, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday.
But soaring bills meant "rapid" changes were needed to the electricity market at a European level, he said at the unveiling of a 65-billion-euro ($65-billion) inflation relief package.
Hundreds of demonstrators rallied in the eastern city of Leipzig on Monday evening to protest what they see as the insufficiency of the government's support measures.
The demonstrations called by the far-left Die Linke party could mark the start of a "hot autumn" of protest in Germany as bill payers feel the squeeze from rising prices.
Earlier Monday, Scholz spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, who said France was ready to deliver more gas to Germany to allow Berlin to export more electricity.
France, which has long leaned on nuclear power, is itself struggling after a number of its reactors were shut down due to corrosion issues.
Other countries have re-evaluated their stance on nuclear energy in the wake of the Russian invasion, including disaster-struck Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called at the end of August for a push to revive the country's nuclear power industry, and build new atomic plants.
© 2022 AFP
"The only thing that is reliable from Russia is lies"
Robert Habeck, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action
Better understanding it late than never at all. No one wants to starve and freeze for climate change.
🇺🇦 Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦 - Just say no to CCCP 2.0.
the people will not freeze
the people will warm themselves by the bonfire
i thought nuclear was green
Oh, nuke energy is suddenly ok in Germany now.
These people are aggressively stupid.
#3 Only until next year then they shut them down...!
Still stupid, just delayed.
Germany, like her neighbors, is afraid to confront Progressives. Pathetic.
Putin Stooges worst affected.
I like Stupid on Steroids.
In case people may be wondering, ONE nuclear reactor provides enough electrical power for 15 MILLION hot showers, every day.
When collecting firewood becomes the norm.
Karma is real as is reaping what thou hast sown.
Great stuff.
Winter is coming.
EU/UK economic implosion assured.
EU/UK currencies sinking.
EU/UK Utility bills going through the roof.
EU/UK Energy prices going through the roof.
Food prices going through the roof.
I know who are getting the last laugh: Trump and Putin.
Keep doubling down though EU/UK.......
#9. (I know. They just don’t want to get it 😉.)
I believe it to be a form of mass psychosis.
Well, there it is. The Germans don’t shower.
Germany is now finally doing what Trump wanted. They closed the NS2 pipeline and are rapidly building LNG terminals so they can buy American. Sad that it’s late, but better late than never.
This is of course the opposite of what Putin wanted. Russian propagandists used the stupid anti-American sentiments in Germany to block the building of LNG terminals claiming that it is a wicked plan of America to sell their own gas instead of the one coming from Russia.
Does not change the fact that the sanctions failed.
Does not change the fact that the sanctions backfired.
Does not change the fact that the EU/UK/Germany reaping what it has sown, and now, doubling down at the expense of their own citizens.
This coming winter will not be the only winter they will have to worry about. Bet.
Sanctions work. Russia is going down. Europeans should not be whining babies. Europe is one of the wealthiest areas in the world and can handle mild economic discomfort.
You say Europe should surrender because of the mild discomfort because you care so much about their well-being. Be honest instead and say you’re rooting for Putin.
Sanctions have not worked, propagandists, and its becoming more and more widely acknowledged as they have not only utterly failed but BACKFIRED.
At any rate, I am supposed to go to the gas station and while filling my car up, think to myself, ‘Take that Putin!’ and be happy I am spending double what I normally have for gas because it make me feel morally better for defying Putin?!
We will suffer because Putin deserves it, right?
When in full truth, Putin has become the catch-all scapegoat for all the world’s problems and our ills as in paying higher food, energy, utility, etc., etc., — all this to cover for their own failed national and foreign policies.
Be assured, when I go to fill up my car, or pay my utility bill, or pay for my groceries, I am NOT cussing Putin. Bet.
The germans are led by useful idiots.
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