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Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz - BMWK) has announced that it will extend the possible operation of two of its three remaining nuclear power plants until mid-April 2023 to provide an "emergency reserve" this winter in face of the current energy crisis resulting from sanctions on Russian oil and gas. The plants are scheduled for closure in December in line with Germany’s nuclear phase-out plan.

Following the 2011 Fukushima accident, the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to phase out nuclear power by the end of 2022 at the latest. Germany was then obtaining around one-quarter of its electricity from NPPs. However, eight units were closed down immediately: Biblis A and B, Brunsbüttel, Isar 1, Krümmel, Neckarwestheim 1, Phillipsburg 1 and Unterweser. Three others - Brokdorf, Grohnde and Gundremmingen C - were permanently shut down at the end of December 2021.

Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck, a member of the Green party, told reporters that a power supply "stress test" had shown that the two southern NPPs - Neckarwestheim 2 (operated by EnBW) in Baden-Württemberg and Isar 2 (operated by E.ON) in Bavaria - could, under extreme circumstances, be important for safeguarding the energy supply in Germany and Europe this winter. They will be taken off the grid but kept on standby so that they could still be reconnected in a crisis situation.

However, Emsland NPP (operated by RWE) in Lower Saxony will definitely be turned off in December. Habeck emphasised that Germany would not reverse its decision to ultimately end nuclear energy production. "We are sticking to the nuclear phase-out," he said. He added that no new fuel assemblies would be supplied "and mid-April 2023 will also be the end of the reserve”.

The announcement exacerbated tensions within Germany‘s three-party ruling coalition. The liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), which governs together with the Greens and Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats, is pressing for a longer extension for nuclear energy. FDP energy policy spokesperson Michael Kruse criticised the stress test findings as “politically influenced and not derived from reality”. He added: “Not only has there long been a need for more electricity in Germany, but skyrocketing electricity prices are bringing the economy to its knees. The lack of an extension for nuclear power plants in Germany is therefore an unnecessary burden on electricity customers.”

The opposition Christian Democratic Union has been warning of possible power outages in winter for weeks and also wants to restart three more nuclear power plants that were shut down last year. "When we demand solidarity (from Europe on gas), we should also make our contribution to energy generation," said Steffen Bilger, deputy leader of the conservatives parliamentary group. SPD leader Saskia Esken confirmed that her party would at most agree to a "stretching operation". The SPD was "in no way prepared" to extend the service life by several years or even to put old reactors back into operation .

The stress tests were undertaken Germany’s four transmission system operators (TSOs) - 50Hertz, Amprion, TenneT and Transnet BW - on behalf of BMWK. This second network stress test, covering winter 2022/23, examined the security of the power grid for this winter under more severe external conditions than were considered during the first stress test earlier in the year.

"The second grid stress test comes to the conclusion that hourly crisis situations in the electricity system in winter 22/23 are very unlikely, but cannot be completely ruled out at the moment," BMWK said. "A number of additional measures are therefore recommended so that even in these very unlikely scenarios there is no short-term load.” The TSOs had wanted all three NPPs, including Emsland, to operate longer, arguing that European power networks are critically tight. Due to grid inadequacies, the two plants would only be able to provide 0.5 GW to the overall load, they said.

Lower Saxony FDP candidate in the forthcoming state elections, Stefan Birkner, commenting on the stress tests, told Spiegel that Habeck "simply ignored" the network operators' reference to the positive effects of nuclear power plants on the security of the power supply. “We must therefore maximise the available power generation capacities in Germany and not switch them off for ideological reasons,” he said.

Continued operation of German NPPs would face a number of complications. The Atomic Energy Act would have to be changed, and long overdue security checks that were only suspended because of the imminent shutdown would have to be undertaken.

Both EnBW and E.ON reluctantly agreed that extended operation of Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 would be possible if necessary. EnBW said it would support the government's efforts to guarantee a secure energy supply "within the bounds of its capabilities and be ready to talk at any time". It added that "the legal framework must be created as quickly as possible" for the plants to be ready for operation beyond the end of this year.

"Furthermore, the German government must expound on the details of the agreed approach in consultation with the power plant operators wherever possible," it noted. "EnBW will then immediately examine the feasibility - particularly with regard to technical and organisational considerations - of keeping the Neckarwestheim 2 NPP in standby mode beyond the end of the year."

E.ON said it would “primarily be a question of examining whether and how it is technically and organisationally feasible, because in terms of their technical design, nuclear power plants are not reserve power plants that can be variably switched on and off”. It urged the governmentto “quickly clarify the specific details of this procedure, ideally together with the operators, and create the necessary legal basis to enable us to examine the feasibility”. E.ON added that Isar 2 “is operational today and also beyond 31 December. The plant also meets all safety-related requirements and is one of the safest systems in the world”.

Image: Germany has announced that two of its three remaining nuclear power plants (Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim 2 (pictured)) will remain on the grid until mid-April 2023 (photo courtesy of EnBW)

Date: Friday, 09 September 2022
Original article: neimagazine.com/news/newstemporary-reprieve-for-two-german-npps-9988470