According to Environment Minister Jan Philipp Albrecht, the shutdown of the last nuclear power plant in Schleswig-Holstein will relieve the power grid and free up wind power in the northern German state, reports Clean Energy Wire.
“Nuclear power clogs our networks, especially in the south,” said Albrecht of the dpa.
Due to network bottlenecks, some offshore wind turbines have to be switched off.
“This is why the importance of nuclear energy is overestimated overall,” said Albrecht.
After the shutdown of the nuclear power plant at the end of this year, northern Germany could cover 160% of its electricity needs with renewable energies and there will be more wind power exports to the south, said Albrecht.
Fears of power outages due to the nuclear phase-out are unfounded, he said. “After all, we will now continue to massively expand renewable energies in Germany. In the future we will not have to rely on the generation of nuclear power in France. “
His anti-nuclear power party, the Greens, recently entered the federal government. Super minister Robert Habeck is to promote the expansion of renewable energies to up to 80 percent of the German electricity supply.
Germany wants to shut down the Grohnde, Gundremmingen C and Brokdorf nuclear reactors by the end of December.
The decommissioning of the remaining three nuclear reactors in 2022 will then end a decade-long struggle by the anti-nuclear movement that gave rise to the Greens and other environmental groups in the 1980s.
The move has raised concerns about energy security among analysts amid an energy price crisis in Europe.
“I’m looking for an orange flashing traffic light emoji when the federal government is confronted with power outages in winter.” tweeted Energy analyst Thierry Bros, alluding to the “traffic light” coalition consisting of the social democratic SPD, the Greens and the business-friendly liberal FDP.
However, researchers are confident that the shutdown of the last German nuclear power plants will not cause supply bottlenecks. after calculations from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin).
In order to keep the network operation stable, the congestion management has to be adapted. But “in Germany the lights will not go out,” said study author Claudia Kemfert.
“On the contrary: the [nuclear] Shutdown paves the way for the overdue expansion of renewable energies. Nuclear power has been uneconomical from the start and has incalculable risks, ”she added.
The authors of the study admitted that phasing out nuclear energy would temporarily lead to an increase in German greenhouse gas emissions, since environmentally harmful power plants with fossil gas and coal would temporarily replace nuclear reactors before they are decommissioned.
The increase would then be quickly reduced by the accelerated expansion of renewable energies, they added.
In a recent poll, a slim majority of Germans said the country shouldn’t rule out the use of nuclear energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, the recent hike in electricity prices has increased support for keeping nuclear reactors connected.
“Almost one in three (31%) would stay with nuclear power for cheaper electricity,” said a to learn by a price comparison service, after carrying out a representative survey.
But reactor operators and politicians have made it clear again and again in recent months that the country is not planning a return to nuclear energy or is delaying its phase-out.
“To initiate a debate in Germany shortly before decommissioning about whether nuclear power plants make an important contribution to climate protection is worrying,” said Leonhard Birnbaum, CEO of the energy supplier E.ON. Handelsblatt.
Intellectuals urge Germany to keep nuclear power plants online
“Dear Germany, please keep your nuclear reactors online,” wrote 25 leading foreign and domestic writers, journalists and intellectuals in a joint letter, warning that phasing out nuclear power would only increase Germany’s CO2 emissions.
[Edited by Frédéric Simon]
Comments are closed.