GERMANY HAS presented an ambitious plan to end its reliance on nuclear energy by 2022, for the second time.
A decade after the Schröder administration announced plans for a nuclear-free Germany, Chancellor Merkel presented another plan for a “safe, reliable and economically viable” energy transition by doubling renewable energy production within a decade.
The remarkable shift in energy policy by Europe’s largest economy comes seven months after Dr Merkel’s government decided to set aside the 2001 exit plan and extend the life of Germany’s 17 nuclear power plants.
Yesterday the German leader said the Fukushima disaster had forced her government to reconsider its plans and bring forward the nuclear shutdown plan.
Roughly one-fifth of Germany’s 90-gigawatt annual energy production is generated in nuclear power plants. Seven older nuclear plants, closed for safety checks in March, will remain off grid for good; the others will follow by 2022 at the latest.
“This is a big challenge for it brings with it a huge chance for future generations,” said Dr Merkel, expressing hope that the risks associated with the transition would be outweighed by opportunities for domestic companies, already market leaders in the manufacture of solar panels and wind turbines.
“We will be a trailblazer as the first large industrial country to try this,” said Dr Merkel. “This is a decision that will bring with it huge technological opportunities.”
The nuclear exit is embedded in a raft of new proposals, including planning laws to expedite a new renewable energy transmission infrastructure. Several safety measures are built in also, including plans for new gas-powered plants to cover any energy shortfall. In addition Germany’s federal energy authority will be allowed keep one nuclear plant on standby for emergencies. The opposition Social Democrats (SPD) criticised some details but welcomed the plan overall. “This is a day of considerable satisfaction,” said SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel. “These are our policies.”
As remarkable as the scale of Germany’s transition is the pace. Dr Merkel has given her civil servants just eight weeks to draft the legislation for parliamentary vote before the summer break.
The Merkel administration’s programme for a post-nuclear energy plan drew robust, if resigned, criticism from German energy companies. Energy giant RWE said it was “considering its legal options”. Meanwhile, Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche spoke for many large firms when he said that post-Fukushima “emotions were playing a big role” in Germany’s energy debate. “There are definitely some risks for Germany as an industrial base with the decision to turn away from an affordable energy supply.”
The move prompted mixed reactions across Europe, with Sweden leading the critics. Environment minister Andreas Carlgren predicted that the plan would leave Germany dependent on energy imports. By naming a nuclear shut-down date, he predicted, Berlin would fall short of the “dual challenge of both cutting nuclear power dependency and of climate emissions”.