Our neighboring country France urgently needs electricity – Germany wants to help despite its own shortages. This is particularly beneficial for those who advocate longer lifetimes for nuclear power plants in this country. By Thorsten Giersch (Wirtschaftskurier)
The nuclear power plants in France are always an emotional dilemma for the friendship between the two countries. When the Merkel government decided to end German nuclear reactors after the Fukushima catastrophe, they had to put up with criticism as to why we forego nuclear power for safety while potentially dangerous nuclear reactors remain in operation in France and other neighboring countries.
Now this historically charged discussion is taking a turn, which some call a historical joke: several French nuclear reactors are currently failing in France. They suffer from the phenomenon of stress corrosion, i.e. cracking in pipelines – and only achieve half of the usual electricity production. Now Germany should help out of solidarity.
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And that in a situation where we cannot do without a kilowatt hour with a light conscience. Normally, France is one of the countries in Europe that exports the most electricity. Now the German wind farms are suddenly needed.
Politically, refusing the aid would be practically impossible, mainly for two reasons: Both countries are pioneers for Europe and for solidarity with each other. If they don’t help each other, any willingness to come to an agreement is practically gone. Second, the French government has offered to supply gas to Germany to fill the gaps in Germany. And as is well known, we have significantly higher bottlenecks than with electricity.
France is not so dependent on Russia for gas and has well-stocked storage facilities. The country already has four LNG terminals and has offered to transport the liquid gas delivered there directly to Germany. That would solve many a problem until we have the appropriate terminals.
France’s electricity problem and the question of German solidarity has a direct and possibly decisive impact on the heated discussion about the extension of the three remaining nuclear power plants. After all, how could you not help France and shut down nuclear power plants at the same time?
This argument is very convenient for all of the FDP: “The true value of a friendship shows itself in a difficult situation – the Franco-German friendship should be worth every energy policy effort,” said their energy policy spokesman Michael Kruse.
The parts in the SPD that are in favor of extending the terms now have an important argument at hand. Even among the Greens, who are still reluctant to do so, the France argument could be decisive for a rethink.
The Federal Government makes its decision for or against the extension of the term dependent on the result of the second stress test. The first took place between March and May and came to the conclusion that the power supply in Germany will be secured in 2023 even without active nuclear power plants. However, this stress test was based on current needs.
There are now many indications that the amount of electricity required in this country will increase significantly. Reasons are, for example, the large number of fan heaters that people have bought and are likely to use in winter. Or deliveries to France or other neighboring countries. The second stress test reflects precisely these scenarios.
Nuclear power plants currently produce six percent of the electricity in Germany and gas-fired power plants ten percent. If both sources are switched off, as is currently planned, coal-fired power plants will have to close the gap – because the expansion of renewable energies is not progressing fast enough. However, the production of electricity in coal-fired power plants is only possible with higher CO2 emissions and is significantly more expensive than nuclear power plants.
And the price plays the second most important role after availability: the latest figures this week put the increase in electricity prices at 580 percent compared to the previous year. This sixfold increase is directly related to high weed prices. Those who not only point to the availability of electricity, but also to the price – and therefore call for a longer service life for nuclear power plants, feel encouraged. This includes above all the FDP, which had repeatedly noted a lack of affordable electricity.
