German govt plan to accelerate closure of nuclear power plants

In brief, the proposed strategy is to close Germany’s seventeen nuclear power plants (with a total net capacity of 20.5 GW) in tandem with faster development of renewable sources of energy, including biomass solar and wind, and constructing 5 GW of new natural gas combined cycle power generation……

German report suggests nuclear power may end by 2017 Energy and Environmental Management 8 June 11 Last week, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Cabinet agreed a plan committing the country to phasing out all nuclear power by the end of 2022. This new draft report, published by an agency of the German Environment Ministry, led by the conservative Norbert Röttgen, explains how this might be achieved in practice. What is surprising is that the Ministry suggest it might be possible to end nuclear power by 2017 – a full five years earlier than expected.

The report will be seen as defying those critics who say it can’t be done, as the study demonstrates how Germany might be able to keep the lights on, avoid importing nuclear power from other countries, meet its carbon emission targets and avoid significant cost rises to consumers. Currently, Germany relies on 23% nuclear and 17% renewables for its electricity.

The strategy is almost the same as that proposed by the previous red-green coalition of social Democrats and Greens which Angela Merkel’s conservative party originally opposed.

This strategy, if formally adopted by Merkel and successfully implemented by her Government, has the potential for worldwide significance, especially in a week when governments are meeting in Bonn to try and design the global climate agreement that is needed to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.

Switzerland has already decided to discontinue nuclear electricity (which provides about 40% of its current needs). Its five existing reactors will continue to operate until the end of their lifespans, the last one due to be decommissioned in 2034. They will be replaced by renewable energy.

Italy is to have a referendum on whether to build more nuclear power stations on June 12-13. Recent surveys show that most Italians are against nuclear power.

“A complete nuclear phase-out by 2017 will reduce the dangers and risks of nuclear power significantly,” the summary in the German report concludes. “This will have substantial social benefits that outweigh the modest increases in electricity prices.”

Many commentators have predicted that the cost of the transition would be high, but the study estimates that consumers will pay just Euro 0.6 to 0.8 cents more per kilowatt-hour. In any case, this amount is less than the price swings of natural gas and coal during the past year.

The conservative German government has published a controversial draft report setting out a possible plan for closing all of its nuclear reactors by 2017, without building new coal fired power stations……

The higher market price for electricity will also cut the cost of the country’s renewable energy programme because the differential between the market price of electricity and the average cost of feed-in tariffs for renewables will be decreased

http://www.eaem.co.uk/news/german-report-suggests-nuclear-power-may-end-2017