German Nuke Reprieve Could Hurt Wind

(page 2 of 2)

"In Germany, by contrast, the company would be competing against its own fossil power business if it were to proceed with strong investment drive in renewable energy," says Gerder.

Bärbel Höhn, an opponent of nuclear power, agrees. "If the nuclear reactor lifetimes are extended there won't be any significant expansion of offshore wind power in the foreseeable future," she says. That would make heavy investments already undertaken in port installations along the coast redundant. The ports of Bremerhaven, Emden, Cuxhaven, Rostock and Wismar have invested in new harbor installations and provided regional development funding in anticipation of a wind farm boom. If the offshore investments grind to a halt, the economically weak coastal regions of Germany won't get the thousands of new jobs they had been hoping for.

Power Generators Deny Go-Slow

EnBW, RWE and Vattenfall deny accusations that they are dragging their feet. RWE Innogy said all its offshore wind energy projects were on schedule in terms of planning and construction. The company said it will continue investing €1 billion a year in renewable energies regardless of whether nuclear reactor lifetimes are extended or not. Old power stations will be taken out of service as new wind farms come on line, it said.

But until now, companies faced the prospect of switching off their nuclear plants as well. That's going to change with the new coalition being formed between Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the pro-business Free Democrats following the Sept. 27 election.

It looks as if the coalition will agree an unlimited extension of the nuclear reactor lifetimes, German news agency dpa reported on Monday, citing participants in the coalition talks. The coalition plans to develop a comprehensive energy plan which probably won't be completed until the new year, and which will impose strict safety standards on reactors, dpa reported.

Germany's power companies won't all benefit equally from longer nuclear lifetimes. E.on runs more modern reactors which could remain on line for a considerable time, while EnBW will probably have to invest heavily in two of its four plants to meet safety requirements, or shut them down as planned. Vattenfall's two plants, Brunsbüttel and Krümmel, are off line at the moment and are regarded as prone to technical problems. Stricter safety requirements could force them to be shut down for good.

As a result, two of the power companies will profit far less from the windfall of extra profits when nuclear lifetimes are extended, and will have more incentive to invest more in wind power.

In addition, companies may be forced to boost their investment in renewables in return for the longer nuclear lifetimes. The environment minister of the state of Baden-Württemberg, Tanja Gönner, wants to force companies to hand over at least 50 percent of the extra profits they will generate from keeping their nuclear plants open. "The lifetimes won't be extended free of charge," she said.

But it remains to be seen how much the power companies are prepared to pay. EnBW chief Hans-Peter Villis said two days after the election that he would pay an "obolus" for extended lifetimes. An obolus was an ancient Greek coin worth very little.

Provided by Spiegel Online—Read the latest from Europe's largest newsmagazine

Business Exchange

Track and share business topics across the Web.