Source: Energy & Management Powernews, 06 September 2022
Although the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany are scheduled to go off the grid at the end of 2022. However, two are to remain operational for emergencies until the spring.
Of the three remaining nuclear power plants in Germany, two are to serve as an emergency reserve until mid-April. This was stated by German Economics Minister Robert Habeck on Monday, September 5, during the presentation of the results of a second grid stress test. "The two nuclear power plants Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim should still be available until mid-April 2023, in order to be able to make an additional contribution to the power grid in southern Germany in 2022/23 over the winter if necessary," the Green politician said.
The second grid stress test came to the conclusion "that hourly crisis situations in the power system are very unlikely in the winter of 22/23, but currently cannot be completely ruled out," the statement said.
Despite the transfer of two nuclear power plants to a temporary reserve, all three nuclear power plants in Germany are scheduled to go offline at the end of 2022. "We are sticking to the nuclear phase-out as regulated in the Atomic Energy Act," Habeck said. "New fuel assemblies will not be loaded and mid-April 2023 is also the end for the reserve." Nuclear power remains a high-risk technology, he said, and the highly radioactive waste will burden tens of generations to come. "Nuclear power is not to be toyed with."
Habeck also brings reactor safety status into play
A blanket extension of operating times would also not be justifiable in view of the safety status of nuclear power plants. "With the operational reserve, we take into account the risks of nuclear technology and the special situation in the winter of 22/23."
With regard to the result of the stress test, the Green politician emphasized, "We have a high security of supply. We are an electricity exporting country. We have great grid stability." One has enough energy in Germany and supplies the European neighbors with.
The scenarios for the stress test submitted on July 17 should have been tightened up. "We have always thought 300 euros per megawatt hour of gas is an extreme scenario. During the last weeks, the price above 300 euros was still reached and we had peaks of 350 euros in between," Habeck said. He added that the drought was having an impact not only in southern Europe, but also in northern Europe. "Accordingly, the situation is at the coal-fired power plants, so we or the transmission system operators have said during the work, we have to re-sharpen the scenarios and that was also done," Habeck said.
Deficits in wind power, delays in power lines
The decision also primarily maps the fact that especially in southern Germany there is a great demand for energy, but there is little own power generation. This is exacerbated by the fact that wind power expansion here is only progressing haltingly and construction of the major power lines Südlink and Südostlink has been delayed by many years
They are intended to bring large amounts of wind power electricity to Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and should originally have been ready in time for the shutdown of nuclear power plants at the end of 2022. However, the north-south connections had to be completely redesigned following the political decision to lay the lines underground rather than as overhead lines. In addition, the costs multiplied as a result: Around 10 billion euros are now estimated for the Südlink alone. Currently, there are further delays due to countless legal objections and prohibitions on entering the site, which are hindering the ground investigations by the network operators Tennet and Transnet BW. In newest estimates of a start-up 2027 the speech is
To secure the gap for hundreds of millions euro also still extra emergency gas power stations are built, which are to come however only with serious incidents to the employment
Responsible and painful step
Esprechend expressed itself still in the evening of the Schleswig-Holstein environment and energy final minister Tobias Goldschmidt. For it the result of the current stress test is the receipt of energy-political failures in the south of the country. Above all, it is an oath of revelation for Bavarian energy policy, said the Green politician in Kiel. "The proposal of the Federal Minister of Economics to transfer two nuclear power plants in southern Germany for a few months in an emergency reserve is a responsible as well as painful step."
Car: Günter Drewnitzky
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