German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Sunday ruled out extending the life of the country’s last three nuclear power plants to save natural gas, which he insisted makes up only 2% of German consumption.
These marginal economies do not justify reopening the debate on the phasing out of nuclear power, which is the subject of a broad consensus in Germany, he declared during an exchange with citizens during an open door day by the German government.
The plants are due to close by the end of 2022, according to a timetable adopted by former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government. It was adopted after the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
Winter break for a power plant?
However, Robert Habeck said he was willing to slightly extend the life of one of Isar-2’s three power plants, located in Bavaria, if the move was shown to be necessary to guarantee power supply this winter. It is possible to stop the supply of Russian natural gas. Bavarian industry is really dependent on gas and the southern German region has only a limited number of alternatives – coal-fired power plants or wind turbines.
Berlin also says it wants to consider the fact that Germany is currently supplying power to France as several French nuclear power plants are shut down for maintenance.
Reuters/Wick
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