Germany has been immersed since last year in a debate that arouses passions and divides its government coalition.
The purpose of the divisions is whether it is necessary to keep its three remaining nuclear plants running while Russia’s war in Ukraine has reignited the question of Europe’s, and particularly Germany’s, energy dependence on Russian gas.
The consensus on energy that has prevailed in Germany for the last 10 years was that cheap Russian gas, less polluting than coal and considered highly secure in supply, was the ideal path to support the transition to renewable energy.
This followed a decision made after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011. The country then decided to phase out nuclear power. Angela Merkel, the then chancellor, had given an exit schedule.
Divisions within the government
But when Russian President Vladimir Putin decided last year to significantly reduce Russian gas deliveries to Europe following European Union sanctions, Germany, like many European countries, found itself in a very bad situation. Electricity prices have increased considerably and energy rationing measures have reappeared.
The country, Europe’s largest economy, depends on Russia for nearly half its gas supply. It is therefore not surprising that this gas war has raised the question of energy independence for the country, which is home to multinationals such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Siemens.
Divisions have appeared on this issue within the ruling coalition, made up of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the liberals of the FDP. The latter, close to the business community, are traditionally more supporters of nuclear energy. The rejection of this energy is, on the contrary, one of the founding principles of the ecologist party.
Tensions between Greens and Liberals did not lead to a compromise. Consequently, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced last October that the country will keep the last three German nuclear power plants. He added that the legal bases will be created to allow the operation of the Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland nuclear power plants until April 15, 2023.
His coalition government had only agreed to keep two of the three power plants beyond the end of 2022, the originally planned date for nuclear phase-out. The Emsland power station in the north of the country was at the center of the confrontation between the Greens and the Liberals.
Initially, Germany planned to close its last three operating nuclear reactors at the end of 2022. But the government of Olaf Scholz reversed this decision after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and decided last September to extend two of the three plants that are still in operation. 2023.
‘They should keep them running’
German liberals would like to go beyond spring 2023 and keep all three plants running longer, while the Greens are historically deeply anti-nuclear.
Faced with the threat of energy shortages this winter, the German government has already decided to increase the use of coal, a particularly polluting energy according to experts and ecologists, with the extension of the activity of several coal-fired power plants until spring 2024, although the country It has set itself the goal of abandoning this energy in 2030.
But Swedish climate activist icon Greta Thunberg had deemed it preferable to continue using Germany’s currently operating nuclear power plants rather than resort to coal.
This is a view that Elon Musk seems to share. The CEO of Tesla (TSLA) – Get a free report, which has pushed the car industry to reduce its CO2 emissions by developing electric vehicles, has just encouraged Berlin to continue operating its nuclear power plants. He delivered the message on Twitter after businessman Joe Gebbia, the co-founder of Airbnb, tweeted that German public opinion on nuclear power was changing.
“‘Now more than 80% of Germans are in favor of extending the life of Germany’s existing nuclear reactors,’ Gebbia wrote on January 27.
“They should keep them running!” Musk commented.
Last June, Musk had already indicated that continuing to operate at the three nuclear power plants was one of the options for Germany’s energy independence from Russia.
The billionaire’s opinion is interesting because the only Tesla factory in Europe is located near Berlin in Germany. It opened last year and produces the hugely popular Y SUV model.
