It’s a historical turning point – a beautiful day or a black day, depending on your point of view. Germany has phased out nuclear energy.
This has consequences for energy and climate policy. The focus should now be on a massive expansion of green electricity – that is, many more wind turbines and solar systems. In addition, energy associations are demanding speed for the construction of hydrogen-capable gas power plants. And so that Germany can still achieve its climate goals, one thing in particular should come into focus: an earlier phase-out of coal in the East as well.
Fierce debate about nuclear phase-out
A heated debate about the nuclear phase-out ran until the last minute. The FDP tried to keep the nuclear power plants at least in reserve. The Union fought for longer terms. But the use of nuclear power is history.
“The chapter is now closed,” said Markus Krebber, head of the Emsland nuclear power plant operator RWE, at the shutdown. “Now it is important to use all our strength to push ahead with the construction of hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants as quickly as possible in addition to renewable energies, so that the security of supply is guaranteed if Germany ideally wants to phase out coal in 2030.”
Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) speaks of a new era of energy production. The nuclear phase-out makes the country safer, the risks of nuclear power are ultimately unmanageable. Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and energy associations emphasize that the security of energy supply is guaranteed. According to the energy association BDEW, nuclear energy accounted for four percent of German electricity generation in January and February.
The security of supply will now be secured through the increased use of coal-fired power plants, says Manuel Frondel from the RWI Leibniz Institute for Economic Research in Essen. “It is clear that electricity prices will tend to be somewhat higher in the future, since the power plants that are the cheapest to operate alongside renewables will be permanently eliminated. As a result, expensive natural gas power plants are used more frequently and this drives up prices in times of high electricity demand.”
Flexibly controllable power capacities required
With a view to the nuclear phase-out and the coal phase-out targeted by the federal government by 2030, the industry association Zukunft Gas “assumes, even under optimistic assumptions, that by 2031 at least 15 gigawatts of secured capacity will be missing in the German electricity market,” says Board Member Timm Kehler. In order to avoid this gap, flexibly controllable power capacities would have to be provided. This also includes the construction of new hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants, which would have to be built and commissioned over the next eight years in order to be able to safely phase out coal and achieve the climate goals.
If the gas-fired power plants do not start up in time, this would result in high greenhouse gas emissions, because coal-fired power plants would then have to run longer, according to the general manager of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries, Kerstin Andreae.
This is the wound especially for the Greens. Habeck has repeatedly described the decision to withdraw coal-fired power plants from the reserve after Russian gas supplies were stopped as painful. The traffic light government has become a climate-damaging coal coalition, railed CDU economic politician Julia Klöckner. Group Vice Jens Spahn (CDU) said RTL / ntv, Habeck prefers to run coal-fired power plants, the ultimate climate killer. “It’s a black day for climate protection in Germany.”
Increased CO2 emissions in the energy sector
According to provisional figures from the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), greenhouse gas emissions fell slightly overall last year. In the energy sector, however, CO2 emissions increased. The reason given by the authority was that despite savings in natural gas, the increased generation of electricity, especially from hard coal and lignite, is increasing emissions. UBA President Dirk Messner said that the federal government will now have to counteract this increase with an effective program. A and O is a much faster pace in the expansion of renewable energies.
Georg Zachmann from the Bruegel think tank in Brussels points out that this also applies to the power grids and peak load shaving. In his view, “significantly greater efforts” are needed to phase out coal than to replace the last nuclear power plant blocks.
For the Rhenish mining area, it has been decided that coal will be phased out by eight years, to 2030. For the East German lignite mining areas, however, this is highly controversial. Habeck has announced that he wants to resolve the issue by consensus. Time is pressing, because the coal miners also want certainty.
But the expansion of wind turbines and solar systems takes time. By 2030, renewable energies should provide 80 percent of electricity generation, currently it is about half. However, demand for electricity will increase sharply due to millions of new heat pumps and electric cars. It seems an open question whether the goals for the expansion of green electricity will actually be achieved. The energy and climate policy debate is far from over even after the nuclear phase-out.
