Page 27 - bne_September 2022_20220802

bne September 2022 Companies & Markets I 27
bne:Green
Germany’s nuclear crunch challenges green future
Richard Lockhart in Edinburgh
Support for nuclear power has surged in Germany as the government ponders how to keep the lights and heating on this winter while meeting demand from industry, despite likely vastly reduced imports of Russian gas.
Up to 82% of Germans do not want the government to shut down the country’s three remaining reactors at Emsland, Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 at the end of 2022, with 41% saying they want to keep nuclear power in the long-term, according to a poll commissioned by ARD-DeutschlandTrend. Only 15% were in favour of the remaining reactors being shut down at the end of this year, as it is currently planned.
Also, 61% of people supporting the anti-nuclear Greens, which are part of the governing coalition, said they now supported keeping atomic energy online at least temporarily. Just 31% of Green supporters want to close the reactors in December.
Crucially, 71% of those polled said they approved of the government’s policy of making Germany independent of Russian energy imports.
In another poll, conducted by the online survey institute Civey on behalf of Der Spiegel, 78% of respondents backed the continued operation of the last three German reactors until the summer of 2023. Even among the supporters of the Greens, there was a narrow majority for this.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in early August suggested that it could make sense to keep the reactors open beyond 2022 and to extend their working life.
The opposition Christian Democrats are calling for an extension of the three reactors. That could be done even without buying new fuel rods, with existing supplies sufficient in the short-term.
Nuclear power accounted for 13.3% of German electricity supply in 2021. This was generated by six reactors, of which
Isar nuclear power plant. / bne IntelliNews
three were switched off at the end of 2021. The remaining three – Emsland, Isar and Neckarwestheim – were due to cease operation at the end of 2022.
The country now faces gas shortages as its supplies from Russian have fallen. Nord Stream 1 supplied gas fell to 20% of capacity at the end of July, because Russia claims it cannot import a turbine from Germany due to sanctions, while Nord Stream 2 is still lying idle.
Germany’s gas reserves are currently about 65% full, and the government wants to raise this to 95%, alongside other EU members, by November 1. Berlin is not sure how it will meet
Electricity mix in Germany 2022
www.bne.eu