Green leader Nouripour promises to expand renewables: "But it won't work without China"
Created: 08/30/2022, 16:44
By: Jens Kiffmeier
Whether batteries for e-cars or solar cells: Germany depends on China for the energy transition.
But completely decouple?
Hardly possible, says Omid Nouripour.
Hamburg – Omid Nouripour looks up in the port of Hamburg and squints in the sun.
The crane hums back and forth about 100 meters above him.
One container after the other is unloaded from the ship.
Thousands of 40-foot-tall boxes are stacked up in the pick-up warehouse behind the Green Party chairman.
Everything that Germany needs to be happy and can be produced cheaply overseas arrives here at the Altenwerder terminal.
"There aren't just T-shirts and toys in there now," says the party leader thoughtfully.
Also important accessories for the German energy transition: batteries for electric cars, solar cells, but also rare earths.
Renewable energies: Germany's dependence on China worries party leader Omid Nouripour (Greens)
Most of the goods have traveled half the world.
Around a third of all containers are delivered from Asia, primarily from China.
This dependency is now making many politicians frown.
Being too dependent on one supplier can end up being expensive.
Russia's gas embargo made this brutally clear this summer.
What happens if China suddenly plays a special role?
The supply chains got mixed up during the corona pandemic and partially paralyzed production in this country.
That's why Omid Nouripour made a stopover in Hamburg on his summer tour.
Time for a conversation about new dependencies and dangers for the energy transition.
Omid Nouripour in an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau by IPPEN.MEDIA: Germany needs China in the fight against the climate crisis
The Ukraine war showed that it's bad if you get gas almost exclusively from Russia. Many other products come from China. Shouldn't Germany make itself more independent?
Omid Nouripour: It's not about completely decoupling Germany, as some are saying.
Cooperation with China remains necessary, simply because we cannot solve the climate crisis without the great power.
What does that mean specifically?
This means that China will remain an important trading partner.
But we have to recognize that we are dealing with actors who can be controlled by the state at any time and who, if the worst comes to the worst, would politically exploit the economic dependencies.
As in the case of Russia, which is reducing the flow of gas with unconvincing excuses, purely for reasons of power politics.
A similar approach would also be conceivable in China.
That's why we should definitely make ourselves more independent in production, especially in key sectors.
Keeps an eye on the supply chains: party leader Omid Nouripour (Greens) on his summer tour in the port of Hamburg.
© Christian Charisius/dpa
Green boss Nouripour: Germany exports the lithium from China
Especially when it comes to lithium, which is needed for batteries in electric cars or solar cells, China has a near-monopoly.
After the gas crisis, are we also threatened with a crisis in the expansion of renewable energies?
It is true that the supply chains are very dependent, not only for lithium, but also for rare earths.
But many companies assure me that they are working flat out to change exactly that.
To person
Omid Nouripour can look back on a long career in the Bundestag.
He has been a member of the German Parliament since 2006.
A few months ago, he stepped into the spotlight with the Greens.
After the successful federal elections in 2021, the party leaders Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock changed to a ministerial office - and Nouripour took over the presidency together with Ricarda Lang.
The new dual leadership has been in office since February 2022.
Isn't it just the price that decides in the end?
And China is unbeatable there.
Companies don't just rely on cheap raw materials that you can get from anywhere.
This is a misconception.
Companies need planning security, and they are currently realizing that China is able to curtail entrepreneurial freedom very quickly for political reasons.
Therefore, many are working on alternative models.
There isn't much time for that because we don't know if the Strait of Taiwan could soon escalate and disrupt supply chains.
Renewable energies: Is the expansion stalling?
Green leader Nouripour defends himself against accusations
No gas from Russia, disruption to supply chains - are you afraid that short-term developments will overshadow long-term goals and that the expansion of renewable energies will eventually flag?
no
Before the summer, we passed the biggest package to accelerate the expansion of renewable energies in decades - despite the current crisis.
Of course, we have to get through the next one or two winters in the short term, we will need Russian gas for that long.
But we are not throwing our long-term goals overboard.
On the contrary, we tend to go faster, I can assure you.
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Nevertheless, many voices, primarily from Bavaria, are already calling for the continued operation of nuclear power plants.
The debate about nuclear power as a technology of the future forgets that we are talking about a very expensive, high-risk technology.
And in Bavaria it covers a completely different problem: the state government has deliberately delayed the expansion of power lines and renewable energies for years, and in the worst case there could be supply bottlenecks.
We have to prevent that at all costs.
We have a lot to do to expand renewables.
It's not just about independence, but about climate protection.
The terrible droughts and fires in Europe and also here in Germany have clearly shown the urgency.
Gas crisis in Germany: According to Nouripour, high energy costs are accelerating the energy transition
Still, support could crumble quickly in the winter as bills for high gas prices roll in.
Will the Germans become war-weary and more pragmatic about compromises with Russia?
I experience great solidarity with Ukraine.
And if the war isn't on page one for three days, that doesn't mean that we're war-weary.
But one thing is clear: we have to cushion the social hardship, because many people already hardly know how to pay the high bills.
And we must keep making people understand what is at stake for us as democracies in Ukraine.
Concerned about the dependency on China in the expansion of renewable energies: Party leader Omid Nouripour (Greens) © Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Isn't that too optimistic?
The first camps are calling for the “Winter of Anger”.
My concern is with people's existential needs, not those who incite anger.
The vast majority of Germans know that the gas crisis was triggered by the Russian war of aggression and that we must stand together.
As a coalition, we have the task of reducing the impositions on those who feel the rising prices particularly clearly.
High gas prices: Omid Nouripour and the Greens promise a third relief package
So it is possible to agree on a third relief package – despite differences in content within the coalition?
Yes.
We have already put together two packages worth 30 billion euros.
We don't leave people alone.
Which measures are non-negotiable for you?
There are a number of suggestions.
We must not lose sight of the big goals.
That is why we have already tackled structural measures in the first two relief packages, such as laws on energy efficiency and energy savings.
But of course the next package is again about relieving the burden on people in our society, and I see an urgent need for action for people with low and middle incomes.
Specifically, I also support a connection solution for the 9-euro ticket.
