Introduction

Apart from coal, Germany has limited domestic primary energy sources and relies upon imports to meet most of its energy needs. Coal-fired and nuclear power plants (NPPs) generate most of Germany’s electricity. Coal is the most important energy source, accounting for about half of the country’s total electricity production. The country’s 17 operating NPPs generate some 26 % of the country’s electricity and about the half of base-load electricity. Germany’s electricity grid is part of the Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE). The 1998 coalition government formed between the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party agreed to phase out nuclear power. In June 2001 the leaders of the Red-Green coalition government and the four main energy companies signed an agreement to limit the operational lives of the reactors to an average of 32 years. On 28 September 2009, Angela Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), won the German federal elections with a comfortable majority. The Black-Yellow coalition (CDU/FPD) government agreed on 5 September 2010 to extend the operational duration of the country’s 17 nuclear power plants (NPPs) by 12 years on average beyond 2021. However following the Fukushima accident, Chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced on 15 March 2011 the immediate closure at least until June of seven nuclear power reactors that started operating before 1980 and on 6 August 2011 eight German nuclear power reactors were declared permanently shutdown. On 30 May 2011, the government adopted the decision to phase out nuclear by 2022 (ratified by Parliament on 30 June) and on 6 June 2011 it made amendments to the country's Atomic Energy Act.

Country Profile

Executive Summary

Apart from coal, Germany has limited domestic primary energy sources and relies upon imports to meet most of its energy needs. Coal-fired and nuclear power plants (NPPs) generate most of Germany’s electricity. Coal is the most important energy source, accounting for about half of the country’s total electricity production. The country’s 17 operating NPPs generate some 26 % of the country’s electricity and about the half of base-load electricity. Germany’s electricity grid is part of the Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE). The 1998 coalition government formed between the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party agreed to phase out nuclear power. In June 2001 the leaders of the Red-Green coalition government and the four main energy companies signed an agreement to limit the operational lives of the reactors to an average of 32 years. On 28 September 2009, Angela Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), won the German federal elections with a comfortable majority. The Black-Yellow coalition (CDU/FPD) government agreed on 5 September 2010 to extend the operational duration of the country’s 17 nuclear power plants (NPPs) by 12 years on average beyond 2021. 

However following the Fukushima accident, Chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced on 15 March 2011 the immediate closure at least until June of seven nuclear power reactors that started operating before 1980 and on 6 August 2011 eight German nuclear power reactors were declared permanently shutdown. On 30 May 2011, the government adopted the decision to phase out nuclear by 2022 (ratified by Parliament on 30 June) and on 6 June 2011 it made amendments to the country's Atomic Energy Act.

Security of supply

Apart from coal, Germany has limited domestic primary energy sources and relies upon imports of about 75 % to meet most of its energy needs. Germany must import most of its crude oil and petroleum – mainly from Russia and Norway. Coal is Germany’s most abundant indigenous energy source. The country’s recoverable coal reserves are sufficient and the largest reserves within the EU. But the production has decreased of late due to the closure of coal-fired generation plants in the former East Germany, diversification of energy supply, the restructuring of the coal industry and the adoption of stricter environmental regulations. Coal and nuclear power plants generate most of Germany’s electricity. Coal is the most important energy source, accounting for about half of the country’s total electricity production. The country’s 17 operating NPPs generate some 26 % of the country’s electricity and account for about half of based-load electricity. According to international conventions Nuclear power ist rated as a domestic energy source.

Germany’s electricity grid is part of the Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE). The country imports electricity mainly from France, whose electricity is mostly generated by nuclear power, and the Czech Republic. Overall, however, Germany exports more electricity than it imports.

Nuclear Policy

Nineteen experimental and commercial reactors have been shut down and are being decommissioned. In 1990, following reunification, five VVER-440 units (Soviet-designed reactors) at Greifswald were shut down. In October 1998, a coalition government was formed between the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party. They agreed to phase out nuclear power. Long “consensus talks” with the electricity utilities took place and, in 2000, a compromise was announced that helped the government save face while ensuring uninterrupted operation of the NPPs for many years ahead. While limiting plant lifetime to some degree, the agreement averted the risk of any enforced plant closure during the term of the government. In June 2001, the leaders of the Red-Green coalition government and the four main energy companies signed an agreement that implemented the 2000 compromise. The agreement entered into force in 2002. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies agreed to limit the operational lifetimes of the reactors to an average of 32 years. The permitted electricity production at the one non-operational reactor (at Muelheim Kaerlich) was transferred to other power plants. The 2002 law also forbad the construction of new NPPs for the time being.

On 28 September 2009, Angela Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), won the German federal elections with a comfortable majority. The Black-Yellow coalition (CDU/FPD) government agreed on 5 September 2010 to extend the operational duration of the country’s 17 nuclear power plants (NPPs) by 12 years on average. The agreement is part of a broader energy strategy that the government adopted on 28 September. The main goal of the energy concept is to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% compared to 1990 level by 2050, while ensuring security of supply and maintaining affordable prices. To do so, the share of renewables is set to increase to 80% of total electricity supply and energy demand to decrease by 50%. To meet this target, concrete measures have been put forward.  Nuclear energy is described as a bridge technology until renewables and energy efficiency enable Germany to do without it. Older NPPs would operate for 8 more years and newer ones for 14 more years. The decision also includes a nuclear fuel tax aimed at raising 3 billion € a year to develop renewable energies. 

A package of laws needs to be adopted by the Parliament to implement the strategy. The Bundestag has already examined five draft laws: two of them are modifying the Atomic Energy Law to allow for the extension of NPPs’ operational duration, another one on the nuclear fuel tax, a law setting up a climate and energy fund, and a law amending the law on energy and electricity taxes. The bill providing for the extension of NPPs' operational lifetime was adopted on 28 October 2010 by the Bundestag, the lower house. However it still has to go through the Bundesrat, the upper house that represents the federal states, where the balance of power is not favourable to the governing coalition, which may delay the adoption of the law. The whole package of laws was expected to come into force at the beginning of 2011.

However following the Fukushima accident, Chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced on 15 March 2011 the immediate closure at least until June 2011 of seven nuclear power reactors that started operating before 1980 and on 6 August 2011 eight German nuclear power reactors were declared permanently shutdown. On 30 May 2011, the government adopted the decision to phase out nuclear by 2022 (ratified by Parliament on 30 June) and on 6 June 2011 it made amendments to the country's Atomic Energy Act.

Safety and waste management

German NPPs comply with western safety standards. In 1955, the then West German government set up an Atomic Ministry that had strong European links. The Atomic Energy Act was promulgated in 1959 and is still the core legislation governing licensing and safety.

The policy of the coalition government from 1998 onwards was to promote geological disposal of spent fuel and no reprocessing after 2005. The utilities are responsible for interim storage of spent fuel, and have formed joint companies to build and operate off-site surface storage facilities at Ahaus and Gorleben. However, current policy is to favour interim storage at reactor sites. The federal government’s Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) is responsible for building and operating final repositories for high active waste (HAW). The Christian Democratic state governments would like to make progress with the issue, but the federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conversation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) is trying to prevent progress by insisting on having only one repository site for high active waste. Following a site selection process, the salt dome at Gorleben is being studied as a possible site for the geological disposal of high active waste. However the BMU issued a moratorium for the exploratory work, lasting 3 years as a minimum and 10 years as a maximum to clarify location-independent questions which became effective on 1 October 2000. In the meantime these questions were processed by experts: The Gorleben salt dome is safety-related suitable as a repository for high active waste. The construction of the site has already cost €1.5 billion and € 2 billion would be needed to complete the repository. The site could be available in 2025. During this period the operation of the Gorleben exploratory mine is restricted to maintenance work necessary to keep the mine in a safe state. Separated high active wastes from reprocessing are expected to be returned to Germany by 2022 and stored.

The Ahaus facility is used for storing intermediate-level wastes, and the Konrad site was licensed in 2002 for the disposal of low and medium active waste (LAW and MAW). After dismissing all legal objections against Konrad site by the highest German administrative court in spring 2007, the site is expected to be operational by 2013 the latest.

Climate Change

Germany is strongly committed to environmental protection and has, therefore, fixed ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Germany ranks fourth in the total carbon emissions league table of the G-8, after the United States, Russia and Japan. Germany has signed the Kyoto Protocol and according to the EU burden-sharing agreement must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 21% below the 1990 level by 2012. Moreover, the German government aims at a 40 % reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. Though Germany aims to increase the share of power generated by renewables to 20 % by 2020, the goal will be harder to achieve if the current phase-out policy is maintained. Indeed, Germany’s other main fuel source used for base-load electricity is brown coal (which produces about 1 ton of carbon dioxide per MWh). In 2006 44,3 % of the country’s base-load electricity were generated by brown coal-fired power plants, 50,3 % by nuclear power plants and 5,4 % by water power plants.

Public opinion

In March 2008, a survey conducted by TNS Emind, a public opinion research company, showed that nearly half of the German population (49%) supported extending the lifetime of Germany’s NPPs. In June 2011, an opinion poll carried out by the Emnid Institute revealed that 57% of German citizens believe that the phase-out policy of the government is feasible.