fDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr has reiterated his party’s call for all three German nuclear power plants that are still in operation to remain connected to the grid. This is “certainly correct” so that “more volume comes onto the market,” said Dürr on Tuesday in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. “More quantity means lower prices”. The costs, especially for electricity, are “explosive,” Dürr said. No company or private household can afford these high electricity prices.
Regarding the different opinions in the federal government, Dürr said he saw “a movement” in Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens). This is an important first step. Habeck had declared on Monday that two of the nuclear power plants should continue to be available for power supply until next spring, but only as an emergency reserve. FDP leader Christian Lindner, on the other hand, called for the three remaining nuclear power plants to continue operating until at least 2024. Dürr joined ZDF in the demand for an extension of the service life. The Union also pushed for it.
Merz: “Completely absurd”
“We are heading for an energy supply crisis,” said CDU chairman Friedrich Merz on Tuesday on Deutschlandfunk. In the current situation, even thinking about shutting down power generation capacities is “completely absurd”. The crisis was triggered by the war in Ukraine and was exacerbated “by completely absurd decisions by the federal government”. If there is not enough electricity in winter, the country is also heading for a severe recession. The responsibility for this no longer lies with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but with the federal government, said Merz.
The critical situation on the electricity market is “absolutely incomprehensible,” said Veronika Grimm. With a view to the price level, all available capacity would have to be mobilized. “This includes coal-fired power plants, but also nuclear power plants. The power plants should run and not just be on standby, as is currently planned – because only then will there be a lowering effect on the price of electricity. With the current planning, only the costs are incurred, but the benefits are not realized”. Grimm suggests that in the case of the three nuclear power plants that are still in operation, one should consider extending the lifespan by five years. It should also be checked whether the nuclear power plants that have just been shut down should be reactivated. “This could ensure that prices remain within limits and that the supply is always guaranteed.”
In the long term, the expansion of renewable energies will contribute, the coal-fired power plants and nuclear power plants must be replaced by gas-fired power plants. “But all of this takes time, which we don’t have in this crisis situation,” emphasizes the economist. Incidentally, it does not assess the prospects as rosy if the expansion targets are achieved. “We calculated that for 2030. Even then it is conceivable that electricity prices will not fall due to renewable energies.” The main reason is that electricity consumption in Germany will increase from around 580 to 750 TWh annually. Grimm emphasizes: “Therefore, the need for conventional power plants does not decrease at all.”
Stress test: Bottlenecks possible
When presenting the results of the second so-called stress test on the security of energy supply in Germany and Europe, Habeck announced that the Isar 2 nuclear power plants in Bavaria and Neckarwestheim in Baden-Württemberg should remain available until mid-April 2023 in the event of bottlenecks. He ruled out further operation beyond that.
The network operators’ stress test came to the conclusion that under unfavorable conditions such as a cold winter, low water levels on the waterways or low availability of French nuclear power plants, there could be supply bottlenecks by the hour, especially in southern Germany. The nuclear power plants could then “make a contribution to reducing the load undersupply,” it said.