On Monday, German news outlet Bild reported that after the German government decided to decommission the nation’s last remaining nuclear power plants as it transitions to renewable energy sources, it forced the country to ramp up its electricity imports over the first six months of the year.
Between January 1st and June 12th, the EU’s largest economy was forced to import its electricity from neighboring countries, according to the outlet, which cited a response from the cabinet to an inquiry from parliament.
Germany’s electricity production can no longer meet the demand in the country for electricity utilizing its domestic power generation capabilities according to the report, largely due to a green energy policy “disaster” which has seen the nation close down its nuclear power plants in favor of renewable electricity sources. As a result, Berlin is now dependent on electricity imports from French nuclear facilities, as well as electricity produced at coal-fired plants in the Czech Republic.
Energy expert Andre Tess said, in an interview with the TASS news agency, “According to publicly available data, Germany has turned from an exporter of electricity into an importer. This is most likely due to the abandonment of nuclear power plants.”
Previously, industry executives in Germany had warned that looming shortages of electricity could negatively impact the competitiveness of Germany as an industrial hub.
Markus Krebber, the head of energy firm RWE, warned last month that, “As an industrial location, Germany has a serious problem. We don’t have as much energy available as we need.”
He added, “This gap leads to high prices and thus to justified concerns about competitiveness… we are seeing the first signs of de-industrialization.”
Following the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima Japan in 2011, Germany pledged to abandon its nuclear energy program. Berlin shut down its last three nuclear power generation facilities in April, which brought an end to its sixty-year old nuclear power program, which it hoped it would transition to a fully renewable electricity generation program by 2035.
Initially Germany had planned to utilize more natural gas electricity generation, drawing upon cheap Russian pipeline gas delivered through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Before the war in Ukraine began, Germany received as much as 40% of its natural gas supplies from the Kremlin. However between sanctions which disrupted Russian gas flows and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, Germany has been forced to seek alternative sources of energy.
Berlin was able to utilize imports of LNG from the US and the Middle East to replace some of the lost Russian supplies. However economists have warned that it will take years before Germany will be able to fully replace the lost Russian supplies with other sources of energy.
