As EU is asked to mobilise all available energy, anger at Germany grows – And Scotty would say in responce “I’m Givin’ Her All She’s Got, Captian!” .

Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton has called for EU countries to produce energy with all they have

The EU’s roiling energy crisis is poised to erupt as Europe heads into winter, prompting calls to ensure every watt of available electricity is fed into the European grid. Germany, meanwhile, stays committed to shutting off its last nuclear reactors, causing mounting frustration among its neighbours.

As Germany prepares to shut down its last remaining nuclear reactors, EU officials are calling upon the bloc’s leadership to ensure that every single joule of energy is mobilised ahead of the coming winter’s looming energy crisis.

In 2011, Germany committed to a two-step nuclear exit, shutting down three reactors in 2021 and another three in 2022. The increasingly loud calls to keep them running in the face of the ongoing energy crisis have largely been ignored by Berlin, despite some decrying the policy as a break with solidarity.

“It’s the responsibility of any countries to do whatever we can regarding the availability of energy production,” the EU’s internal market Commissioner Thierry Breton said on Thursday (8 September) after a meeting with the German government in Berlin.

Breton’s declarations came on the same week as Germany took the final decision to shut down its three remaining nuclear reactors.

And while he declined to “comment on the energy mix of countries,” Breton praised Belgium for delaying its own nuclear exit.

“I want to make sure that we can provide everything to pass the winter,” he said. “I think it’s important that every country, which has a capacity to do it for this very period, that they do whatever they can. And that’s also a matter of solidarity.”

In July, Breton told German paper Handelsblatt that it would be “extremely important to keep the three German nuclear power plants that are still in operation running longer.”

A matter of solidarity

On Monday, Berlin decided to mothball two of its nuclear reactors for months despite a host of experts insisting they continue running, while the third will be shut down completely, to be replaced by floating oil-fired power plants.

For the government, this concluded a long-held ambition. For the Greens, it was a win to show their party base that they were standing up for their core beliefs despite reactivating coal power plants and super-fast-tracking fossil fuel import infrastructure.

Their decision was not popular everywhere. “If Germany does not take any responsibility for its energy security, I will propose to our government that we cut the Baltic cable,” commented Take Anstoot from the Swedish Greens.

“Solidarity only works as long as no one is inflicting injury on itself,” he added.

With Germany’s nuclear reactors going offline in the middle of winter, German politicians are worried that their country’s standing will be hurt.

An analysis conducted by the grid operators found that the impact of continuing to run the reactors would have a greater impact outside Germany than domestically. In Germany, their scenario foresaw gas savings worth 0.9 terrawatt-hours at home, 1.5 abroad.

“There has been great annoyance among our European neighbours for months,” explained Peter Liese, a conservative EU parliamentarian, on Tuesday.

“The German decision to take the last nuclear power plants off the grid right now is also making electricity more expensive for our neighbour,” he added.

EU energy ministers are set to meet on Friday to discuss measures to tackle the electricity market “madness,” as the Austrian Chancellor put it.

Gas woes

Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, is also the country most dependent on Russian gas, which hampered the bloc’s ability to react more strongly to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In its rush to reduce the Kremlin’s grip on Berlin, it snapped up every molecule of gas it could find, subsidising large-scale LNG purchases with billions in free credit.

Today, Germany’s gas storage is around 87% full. But this, too, has not proven to be the most popular policy.

“The price of gas is skyrocketing. Why? Because of, actually, Germany buying a lot of gas after July 23rd when they said this is the second phase of the alarm,” explained Nils Torvald, a liberal EU parliamentarian from Finland, at an EURACTIV event on Tuesday.

“That’s hurting a lot of our member states, quite a lot,” the Fin added.

 

About Stu Turley 3232 Articles
Stuart Turley is President and CEO of Sandstone Group, a top energy data, and finance consultancy working with companies all throughout the energy value chain. Sandstone helps both small and large-cap energy companies to develop customized applications and manage data workflows/integration throughout the entire business. With experience implementing enterprise networks, supercomputers, and cellular tower solutions, Sandstone has become a trusted source and advisor.   He is also the Executive Publisher of www.energynewsbeat.com, the best source for 24/7 energy news coverage, and is the Co-Host of the energy news video and Podcast Energy News Beat. Energy should be used to elevate humanity out of poverty. Let's use all forms of energy with the least impact on the environment while being sustainable without printing money. Stu is also a co-host on the 3 Podcasters Walk into A Bar podcast with David Blackmon, and Rey Trevino. Stuart is guided by over 30 years of business management experience, having successfully built and help sell multiple small and medium businesses while consulting for numerous Fortune 500 companies. He holds a B.A in Business Administration from Oklahoma State and an MBA from Oklahoma City University.