energy crisis
Dobrindt demands a course correction from Scholz for the nuclear power plant reserve
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has been criticized for his plans for a nuclear power reserve. photo
© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
Is Economics Minister Habeck’s plan to keep two nuclear power plants in reserve for a while feasible? The operator has doubts, and the opposition uses this to further attack the already criticized idea.
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt has asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to stop plans for a nuclear power reserve. “The Federal Chancellor must react now and withdraw the decision immediately and allow the full continued operation of the nuclear power plants,” Dobrindt demanded in the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. “The Federal Chancellor should pull the plug on (Economics Minister) Robert Habeck.”
However, Scholz only backed Habeck’s plans on Tuesday evening in the face of the criticism that had broken out. He wants to keep two of the three nuclear power plants still producing in reserve until mid-April after the statutory shutdown at the end of the year. They should go back into operation if a situation emerges in the medium term that could endanger the stability of the power grid. The Bavarian Isar 2 plant and the nuclear power plant in Neckarwestheim in Baden-Württemberg are planned for this.
The Isar 2 operator, the Eon subsidiary Preussenelektra, has now stated in a letter to Habeck that it is technically not possible to start up and shut down. This is the hook for Dobrindt’s request to Scholz to turn to. However, Habeck had already made it clear that multiple startups and shutdowns were not planned at all – just a one-time decision about the need and then a restart. In addition, the company had previously considered a brief standstill necessary in the event of stretching operations lasting several months beyond the turn of the year.
Hofreiter: Preussenelektra was about money
Member of the Bundestag Anton Hofreiter, a Green like Habeck, suspects a different motive behind the letter from the Preussenelektra boss about the planned reserve. “Of course he has a very high interest in not doing it that way because: The nuclear power plants are written off – and he earns an incredible amount of money when he comes into automatic stretching,” he told the television station Welt.
The President of the Association of the Chemical Industry (VCI), Evonik boss Christian Kullmann, asked Habeck to keep all three nuclear power plants running. “In the current situation, we must not allow ourselves to take power generation capacities off the grid,” he told the “Rheinische Post” (Thursday). The stress test for the power infrastructure initiated by Habeck has shown that there is definitely a risk of large-scale power failures.