FX.co ★ Germany will shut down nuclear power plants this year

Germany said it needs natural gas in its transition to renewable energy.

According to Steffen Hebestreit, the government plans to use it as an intermediate fuel before abandoning it completely by 2045.

Germany has a very strong green lobby, which has now become part of the ruling coalition. Despite the discourse against fossil fuels, they finally accepted that there is a need to have at least one fossil fuel because the country will close all of its nuclear power plants by the end of this year.

In fact, at the end of 2021, Germany already shut down three nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 4 GW. According to AFP, this power is equal to the power of 1000 wind turbines. The comparison ends there because atomic energy can produce electricity continuously.

That leaves Germany three nuclear power plants, which are scheduled to close by the end of this year. Earlier this week, the government decided to follow the steps of Brussels, that is. Classifying some natural gas and nuclear projects as 'green'. This will open the door for additional investment in energy sources alongside wind, solar and hydrogen.

But Berlin's strong anti-nuclear stance could well put it on a collision with neighboring France, which relies on nuclear power for more than two-thirds of its electricity consumption.