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Released April 17, 2023 | GALWAY, IRELAND
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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The last three nuclear reactors operating in Germany have been shut down, bringing an end to nuclear power in Europe's largest economy.
The final shutdown of the Emsland, Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 plants took place on April 15, following a short extension to their operational lives last year to help with the ongoing energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Germany voted to abandon all of its nuclear power plants in 2011, shortly after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. At that time, it had 17 operational reactors providing roughly a quarter of its power. For additional information, see May 30, 2011, article - Germany Votes to Dump Nuclear Power.
The final three were responsible for supplying around 6% of the country's electricity. Germany's government is confident that an accelerated shift to renewables will make up the shortfall, but gas and coal will remain key in its energy transition. Germany produced 46% of its energy from renewables in 2022, up from less than 25% a decade ago.
Germany's Environment Minister Steffi Lemkestated said: "The risks of nuclear power are ultimately uncontrollable and, ultimately, therefore, the progressive closure of nuclear plants makes our country safer and prevents more nuclear waste."
Earlier this month, energy company, EnBW, confirmed that it had received local authority approval to decommission and dismantle Unit 2 of its Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant. "The dismantling programme for the fifth and last nuclear power plant in Baden-Württemberg has thus been approved," EnBW said. The company had previously obtained decommissioning permits for Neckarwestheim 1, the Obrigheim plant and for units 1 and 2 of the Philippsburg plant. "EnBW is thus the first operator of nuclear power plants in Germany for whose nuclear power plants all dismantling permits have been obtained," the company said. "In addition, EnBW is the only operator in Germany to date that has already received dismantling approval for two plants before they were finally shut down. In 2019, EnBW had done this for the first time for Philippsburg 2 and was now able to repeat this for Neckarwestheim 2".
Germany still relies on coal-fired power for roughly a third of its power, but it has already committed to shut all such plants by 2038, with closures starting in 2030. Wind and solar power will be the key energies moving forward, but the rate of rollout for windfarms has been slower than needed. In February, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz admitted the pace was slower than planned but that a new law for onshore wind, which came into force this year, rules that an overall 2% of land has to be designated for windfarms by 2032--up from less than 1% today. He said: "By 2030, there will be an average of four to five onshore wind turbines [erected] every day." The goal for onshore wind power capacity is 115 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, up from 58 GW today. Germany has lagged behind other nations in the rollout of offshore wind with just 8 GW of installed capacity in 2022. Earlier this year it announced an ambitious target to add 22 GW to that by 2030 to bring it to 30 GW overall. Beyond that it is aiming to increase it to 40 GW by 2035 and to 70 GW by 2045.
Germany was an early adopter of solar photovoltaics (PV) from 2000 and is now one of the largest solar power producers in the world. Solar contributed 12% of net power last year. With an installed capacity of more than 62 GW in 2022, the industry added a record 7.2 GW of new capacity. The country ranked fourth in the world for solar capacity according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The government wants to triple the current annual expansion to hit 215 GW of total capacity by 2030. This would mean adding up to 22 GW of new installations per year--something the industry is not convinced can happen at present unless Germany can overhaul the regulatory system and bring solar photovoltaic manufacturing back to Europe. Last year, almost 90% of its solar panels came from China. Germany's government is supporting a joint European initiative called PV-IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) to help bring solar panel manufacturing back to Europe and reduce the region's heavy reliance on China and other external suppliers.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
The final shutdown of the Emsland, Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 plants took place on April 15, following a short extension to their operational lives last year to help with the ongoing energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Germany voted to abandon all of its nuclear power plants in 2011, shortly after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. At that time, it had 17 operational reactors providing roughly a quarter of its power. For additional information, see May 30, 2011, article - Germany Votes to Dump Nuclear Power.
The final three were responsible for supplying around 6% of the country's electricity. Germany's government is confident that an accelerated shift to renewables will make up the shortfall, but gas and coal will remain key in its energy transition. Germany produced 46% of its energy from renewables in 2022, up from less than 25% a decade ago.
Germany's Environment Minister Steffi Lemkestated said: "The risks of nuclear power are ultimately uncontrollable and, ultimately, therefore, the progressive closure of nuclear plants makes our country safer and prevents more nuclear waste."
Earlier this month, energy company, EnBW, confirmed that it had received local authority approval to decommission and dismantle Unit 2 of its Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant. "The dismantling programme for the fifth and last nuclear power plant in Baden-Württemberg has thus been approved," EnBW said. The company had previously obtained decommissioning permits for Neckarwestheim 1, the Obrigheim plant and for units 1 and 2 of the Philippsburg plant. "EnBW is thus the first operator of nuclear power plants in Germany for whose nuclear power plants all dismantling permits have been obtained," the company said. "In addition, EnBW is the only operator in Germany to date that has already received dismantling approval for two plants before they were finally shut down. In 2019, EnBW had done this for the first time for Philippsburg 2 and was now able to repeat this for Neckarwestheim 2".
Germany still relies on coal-fired power for roughly a third of its power, but it has already committed to shut all such plants by 2038, with closures starting in 2030. Wind and solar power will be the key energies moving forward, but the rate of rollout for windfarms has been slower than needed. In February, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz admitted the pace was slower than planned but that a new law for onshore wind, which came into force this year, rules that an overall 2% of land has to be designated for windfarms by 2032--up from less than 1% today. He said: "By 2030, there will be an average of four to five onshore wind turbines [erected] every day." The goal for onshore wind power capacity is 115 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, up from 58 GW today. Germany has lagged behind other nations in the rollout of offshore wind with just 8 GW of installed capacity in 2022. Earlier this year it announced an ambitious target to add 22 GW to that by 2030 to bring it to 30 GW overall. Beyond that it is aiming to increase it to 40 GW by 2035 and to 70 GW by 2045.
Germany was an early adopter of solar photovoltaics (PV) from 2000 and is now one of the largest solar power producers in the world. Solar contributed 12% of net power last year. With an installed capacity of more than 62 GW in 2022, the industry added a record 7.2 GW of new capacity. The country ranked fourth in the world for solar capacity according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The government wants to triple the current annual expansion to hit 215 GW of total capacity by 2030. This would mean adding up to 22 GW of new installations per year--something the industry is not convinced can happen at present unless Germany can overhaul the regulatory system and bring solar photovoltaic manufacturing back to Europe. Last year, almost 90% of its solar panels came from China. Germany's government is supporting a joint European initiative called PV-IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) to help bring solar panel manufacturing back to Europe and reduce the region's heavy reliance on China and other external suppliers.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
