Germany to reverse nuclear power plant policy until mid-April 2023

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In a policy reversal, Germany announced, on Monday, that it will maintain two nuclear power plants in standby status through the end of the year as the cutoff of Russian gas imports causes Europe to look for alternative energy sources.

Following a new network stress test, Economy Minister Robert Habeck announced in a statement that two of the three remaining nuclear power plants will "remain available until mid-April 2023 in case needed," somewhat postponing a nuclear withdrawal envisaged under the previous chancellor Angela Merkel.  

The facilities would be held in reserve in case they were needed to "make a further contribution to the electricity grid in southern Germany," where the development of renewable energy lagged behind throughout the north.

According to Habeck, such a catastrophe is still "very unlikely" because Germany has "very high security of supply."

The Green Minister also emphasized that Germany was sticking to its plan to abandon nuclear power, with all plants being disconnected from the grid at the end of the year, and that it was not changing course.

New fuel rods won't be installed, and the reserve program will end after mid-April 2023, according to Habeck. Following a preliminary stress test in March, it was determined that the remaining nuclear fleet could be gradually disposed of by year's end as originally intended since it was not necessary to maintain energy security.

In reference to the summer drought that has caused Germany's rivers to dry up and hampered the transportation of fuel, Habeck remarked, "War and the climate crisis are having a very concrete impact."

The Energy Crisis in Germany 

Protests over the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 prompted former German Chancellor Angela Merkel to set in motion the process of abandoning nuclear power just over a decade ago.

Germany, where nuclear power has long been a source of controversy before Merkel's decision, has seen a surge of discussion over extending the lifetime of the facilities, which produce 6% of the nation's electricity.

Habeck is particularly concerned about the decision because his Green party has anti-nuclear origins.

However, Germany has already taken steps to prepare for the winter by filling gas storage tanks and restarting coal power reactors that had been idled.

Gas supplies via Nord Stream have completely stopped since August 31st and the operation of the pipeline has been suspended due to scheduled maintenance work at the Portovaya compressor station, data from gas transportation system operators showed.

A leak was located at the main gas turbine at the Portovaya compressor station near St. Petersburg.

On August 19, Gazprom said it would halt the flow of gas through the pipeline from August 31 until September 2 due to routine maintenance.

Gazprom said, on September 2, that supplies would remain halted through Saturday due to ongoing repair. The pipeline will reopen once repairs are fully completed.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller stated on August 31st that Siemens Energy, a pipeline equipment supplier, could not carry out regular maintenance because of sanctions.

According to Habeck, Germany no longer considers Russian supplies when evaluating its energy security. 

German statistics office Destatis, in May, reported another hike in food and energy prices as inflation continues. Europe’s top economy, Germany, has reached 7.9%, the highest level since the 1973 oil crisis.

The surge came as the Ukraine war resulted in the collective-West imposing unprecedented sanction packages on Russia. The sanctions imposed on oil and gas hit Europe the hardest and consequently impacted inflation rates the most since late February said Destatis.

Read more: Germany issues nearly €65 bln relief to deal with winter energy crisis