Germany’s nuclear engineering lobby on Wednesday said up to half a dozen nuclear power stations could in theory be reopened despite closing in 2023 as a result of Berlin’s decision to exit nuclear power, as the next government looks to secure cheaper energy.
Germany’s conservatives, winners of the February election, said resuming nuclear power generation was an option to tackle high power prices and rising dependency on electricity imports, most notably from nuclear-reliant France.
The operators of the nuclear plants said, however, their closure was final.
Members of the nuclear technology lobby group include subsidiaries of Westinghouse and Framatome as well as part-German owned nuclear engineering services company Nukem.
“The recommissioning of up to six nuclear power plants is technically possible…The quicker the decision is made, the less money it costs and the sooner the baseload-securing, climate-friendly plants can rejoin the grid,” the KernD group said in a statement.
Investment of between 1 and 3 billion euros ($1.07-3.21 billion) per station could pay for recommissioning, it added.
The statement came a day after the German parties hoping to form the country’s next government agreed to create a 500 billion euro infrastructure fund and overhaul borrowing rules in a tectonic spending shift to revamp the military and revive growth in Europe’s largest economy.
KernD said the operational costs of existing nuclear assets to be reopened would be competitive and the plants worked independently of the weather. Renewable power output was reduced for weeks last year due to adverse weather.
Germany also aims to phase out coal burning in coming years.
“Artificial intelligence, data centers and high tech companies need masses of power, and Germany could deliver,” KernD said.
Operators of Germany’s closed reactors have ruled out reopening them.
Leonhard Birnbaum, chief executive of E.ON, last week said it was unfeasible, stressing decommissioning was in full swing.
Sector peers such as RWE and EnBW have also cited high costs, lacking availability of staff and fuels and regulatory gaps as hindrances.
Source: Market Screener
