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Chancellor Olaf Scholz
Photo: IMAGO/Christoph Reichwein (crei) / IMAGO/Reichwein
According to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), in view of the impending lack of energy, the federal government is considering a somewhat longer use of nuclear power.
The power plants are "only relevant for electricity production and only for a small part of it," Scholz said on Wednesday in Mülheim an der Ruhr.
"But it can still make sense," said the SPD politician when asked about extending the runtimes for the nuclear reactors, whose operation actually ends at the end of the year.
The decision will be based on a power supply stress test, the results of which will be available soon.
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As justification, Scholz pointed out, among other things, that “in Bavaria, in particular, the expansion of wind energy has progressed very slowly”.
The expansion of the transmission network to the south has also not progressed as quickly as planned.
This is taken into account in the "very, very strict stress test" for electricity production in Germany.
This stress test will soon be over.
The federal government will then draw its own conclusions from this.
He also pointed out that the gas storage facilities in Germany are currently better filled than in previous years and that the planned new liquid gas terminals should go into operation from the end of the year.
This will significantly improve Germany's opportunities for gas imports independently of Russia.
Because of fears of a stop in Russian gas deliveries, the FDP and the Union in particular are calling for the lifetimes of nuclear power plants to be extended.
According to current nuclear law, the three power plants still connected to the grid would have to be taken off the grid at the end of December.
So far, the SPD and the Greens in particular have been skeptical.
The Greens also no longer wanted to generally rule out at least temporary continued operation in the event of a crisis.
It is particularly about the Bavarian nuclear power plant Isar-2.
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) has also spoken out in favor of allowing the controversial gas production through fracking, especially in Lower Saxony.
mgo/AFP/Reuters