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CDU chairman Friedrich Merz: "There is a risk of a complete overload of the power grid"
Photo: Lino Mirgeler / dpa
CDU party leader Friedrich Merz fears that there could be a power outage in winter if Germany sticks to the nuclear phase-out.
"There is a risk of the power grid being completely overloaded in autumn and winter, as well as an inadequate supply of electricity," Merz claimed in the "Bild am Sonntag".
If only every fifth gas customer heats with electricity this winter, the electricity demand of private households will double, said Merz.
"If this government continues like this and sticks to the nuclear phase-out for ideological reasons, we are threatened with a blackout at the beginning of next year."
Merz called for new fuel rods to be ordered in order to continue operating at least the three nuclear power plants in Germany that have not yet been shut down: "We would have made sure by August at the latest that new fuel rods would have been ordered at least for the three nuclear power plants that are still running, possibly also for the three that were shut down last year,” said Merz.
“That would initially provide a total of 20 million households with a secure supply of electricity.”
Merz's own party, the CDU, had decided to phase out nuclear power under the then Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The background was the catastrophe at the Japanese nuclear power plant in Fukushima in 2011. Merz himself is not a fan of the exit - even in the federal election campaign last year he was already critical of the end of nuclear power.
Because of the energy crisis, which has been exacerbated by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, there has been a debate for months as to whether the three remaining nuclear power plants should run longer, even though their power operation authorization expires at the end of the year.
The federal government consisting of SPD, Greens and FDP is currently testing the security of the power supply in a stress test.
Then she wants to decide whether the nuclear power plants will run a little longer.
has/dpa
