Germany to keep two nuclear plants available as a backup, burn coal

German lawmakers announced Monday that they will burn coal and keep two nuclear power plants available as a last resort for the winter.

“The major crises – the war and the climate crisis – are having a very tangible impact,” he said. Robert HabeckAnd the Federal Minister of Economy and Climate Protection, in Written statements published on Monday. (The statement was in German and CNBC used Google to translate it into English.)

The German government has announced its plans to keep the Essar 2 and Neckarwestheim nuclear power plants, both located in the southern part of the country, on some kind of backup state, available only if the country has no other choice, it announced. The results of the second network stress test, in which German officials calculate its power needs based on a number of potentials.

This second grid stress test focused on the winter from 2022 to 2023, which is when energy demand is highest as individuals and businesses need to heat their homes.

In its written statement, the Federal Department of Economics and Climate Protection said that “crisis situations in the hourly electricity system” this winter “are highly unlikely, but cannot be completely ruled out at this time.”

The war in Ukraine affected Germany’s ability to manage its energy supplies because Germany relied heavily on natural gas exports from Russia. Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy giant, said on Friday that it is doing so Nord Stream 1 pipeline will not reopenwhich is the primary route to supplying Europe with natural gas, citing the need for maintenance work.

In addition to stressing natural gas supplies, summer heat waves and persistent droughts have also disrupted energy sources.

“The summer drought has lowered water levels in rivers and lakes, weakening hydroelectric power in neighboring countries, and also makes it difficult for us to transport coal to power plants that we have to use because of the difficult gas situation,” Habek said. .

Germany’s European neighbors are also struggling to meet their energy needs. Nearly half of France’s nuclear power reactors have been shut down as the country struggles to maintain old plants, The New York Times reports.

Germany said its EU membership was part of the reason for its decision. “We have enough energy in and for Germany; we are an electricity exporter. But we are part of a European system and this year is a special year across Europe,” Habeck said.

Also, Germany has struggled to ramp up renewables, such as wind and solar power, and to build new transmission lines.

Even with Germany choosing to give itself the option of resorting to its two southern nuclear power plants, Germany is not changing its long-term goal of shutting down all nuclear power in the country. The declaration is largely to fill a gap for the country, similar to the proposal California is currently watching To keep the last nuclear power reactor in operation, Diablo Canyon, is online.

“Nuclear energy is and will remain a high-risk technology and highly radioactive waste will burden dozens of generations to come. You cannot play with nuclear energy,” Habeck said in the statement. “So a blanket life extension would not be justified with regard to the safety status of nuclear power plants. With the operational reserve, we take into account the risks of nuclear technology and the special situation of the winter of 22/23. This is how we could act if the worst were to come to the worse.”

While Germany has a clear aversion to nuclear power, nuclear power has historically been much safer than burning fossil fuels. Brown coal, coal and oil all have a lot More deaths per unit of energy generated from nuclear energy.