RWE and Vattenfall Fail to Extend Life of German Nuclear Plants

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Major German power producer RWE Power, part of RWE AG (OTC:RWEOY) (Essen, Germany), and Swedish Vattenfall AB (Stockholm, Sweden) have again failed to extend the life of their ageing German nuclear power plants, Biblis A and Brunsbuttel.

The Federal Administrative Court has ruled in favor of the German government and refused the plea to transfer generating capacity from the decommissioned Muelheim-Kaerlich reactor to the Biblis A nuclear power plant. The news comes as a blow to Germany's power industry as a whole, which is hoping to reverse the national plan to exit the nuclear energy sector completely by around 2021.

The utilities were aiming to transfer allowances to the other plants that would extend their life beyond their original shutdown date of 2009. At stake is 30 billion kilowatt-hours of power, and RWE has vowed to fight on.

"The official annotation lists seven nuclear power plants that are entitled to claim the unused volume of the Muhlheim-Krlich nuclear power plant. The Biblis A and Brunsbuttel plants were not mentioned in this official annotation," the Federal Administrative Court stated in its ruling.

"The verdict gives us legal backing for the continued enforcement of the law for the orderly termination of the use of nuclear energy for the commercial production of electricity", said Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. He also called on the operators to decommission their oldest power plants and transfer volumes to younger plants. "This would lead to a massive increase in nuclear safety," he said.

RWE's first court appeal to extend the life of Biblis A, Germany's oldest nuclear facility, was rejected in March 2008. RWE is currently awaiting a ruling on whether it will be allowed to transfer generating capacity from the Emsland nuclear power plant to Biblis A and has stated that it has no intention of giving up the fight.

"We take the view that our nuclear power option should be kept open," said Dr. Gerd Jaeger, Member of the Executive Board of RWE Power. "We are seeing how the demands for a future-proof energy supply are changing here in Europe and around the world. In this situation, nuclear power -- as a reliable, climate-friendly and competitive energy source -- must have a firm place in our future energy mix."

RWE wants to keep Biblis A open beyond the original shutdown date of late 2009 in the hope that the upcoming German elections will see a new government reverse the decision to abandon nuclear power altogether. The current German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is a vocal supporter of nuclear power. She has always argued that it makes no sense for Germany to shut down its own nuclear plants and then be forced to buy atomic power from nuclear neighbours like France, the Czech Republic and Finland. Germany's nuclear power plants are expected to be taken off the electricity grid by the end of 2012.

Germany's nuclear power plants account for 26% of the nation's energy consumption, and there is growing public support in the country for extending the life of nuclear power plants. It is also highly unlikely that Germany's big push in developing alternative, renewable power sources will be enough to make up the shortfall. For additional information, see related news item from March 28, 2008 - Germany Faces Major Power Shortages as Technology Debate Stalls Projects.

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