lost in melb.
06-07-2011, 01:44 PM
by Markus Wacket
Reuters Translate This Article
6 June 2011
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's planned exit from nuclear power received backing from the cabinet on Monday, the economy and environment ministers said in Berlin.
The far-reaching energy strategy, spurred by the crisis in Japan, reverses longer life cycles that were granted to nuclear power stations only last autumn.
It will entail changes to power grid expansion plans and the subsidy system for renewable energy such as solar and wind.
The ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) and their coalition partners the Free Democrats (FDP) are to discuss details separately, such as the schedule of the nuclear power station phase-out and whether some capacity will remain on stand-by to safeguard supply.
Chancellor Angely Merkel on Friday agreed with state premiers on a phased exodus from nuclear plants, which supplied 23 percent of German power last year, and to stick to plans to more than double the share of renewables to 35 percent by 2020.
This came after a decision on May 30 to phase out nuclear generation by 2022 and leave eight suspended plants shut for good.
Both chambers of parliament have to agree a change of course on energy strategy by the parliamentary summer break from July 8.
MARKET REACTION
Shares in E.ON and RWE were down 2.47 and 0.54 percent at 1444 GMT, while renewable stock Phoenix Solar was up 2.27.
The government dropped plans to add a further cut to incentives for photovoltaic energy.
Wholesale power markets drifted lower on Monday. The benchmark Cal '12 position in Germany was at 59.25 euros a megawatt hour, down 50 cents from Friday. Traders said much of the nuclear news had been priced in when the contract hit 60 euros in early April.
Some analysts estimate that utilities risk losing billions of euros in earnings, but they point out that there will be offsetting factors such as greater opportunities for renewables.
E.ON said it was facing additional financial damages and would seek compensation, after already announcing last week it would sue the government over a fuel tax that it intends to levy although lifespans are no longer extended.
A spokesman said on Monday the concessions made since then to state premiers and the opposition posed even greater risks.
A spokeswoman for RWE said her company was studying the latest decisions and 'was keeping all legal options open'.
In another response, CDU energy expert Thomas Bareiss told Reuters the move could mean lower CO2 emissions goals for Germany and the EU as more fossil-fuels-based generation plants would probably step in to replace lost nuclear capacity.
The head of Germany's federation of industry (BDI), Hans-Peter Keitel, also said on German radio a change to Germany's ambitious climate protection goals might be necessary.
The International Energy Agency criticised Germany's move.
'By deciding to phase out nuclear, it is clear that the cost of electricity will increase, and the security implication is that reliance on imports rises,' its executive director Nobuo Tanaka said in London.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Markus Wacket, Gernot Heller, Chris Steitz, Tom Kaeckenhoff, and Vera Eckert; Editing by Jason Neely and Jane Baird)
© Copyright 2011 Reuters
Reuters Translate This Article
6 June 2011
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's planned exit from nuclear power received backing from the cabinet on Monday, the economy and environment ministers said in Berlin.
The far-reaching energy strategy, spurred by the crisis in Japan, reverses longer life cycles that were granted to nuclear power stations only last autumn.
It will entail changes to power grid expansion plans and the subsidy system for renewable energy such as solar and wind.
The ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) and their coalition partners the Free Democrats (FDP) are to discuss details separately, such as the schedule of the nuclear power station phase-out and whether some capacity will remain on stand-by to safeguard supply.
Chancellor Angely Merkel on Friday agreed with state premiers on a phased exodus from nuclear plants, which supplied 23 percent of German power last year, and to stick to plans to more than double the share of renewables to 35 percent by 2020.
This came after a decision on May 30 to phase out nuclear generation by 2022 and leave eight suspended plants shut for good.
Both chambers of parliament have to agree a change of course on energy strategy by the parliamentary summer break from July 8.
MARKET REACTION
Shares in E.ON and RWE were down 2.47 and 0.54 percent at 1444 GMT, while renewable stock Phoenix Solar was up 2.27.
The government dropped plans to add a further cut to incentives for photovoltaic energy.
Wholesale power markets drifted lower on Monday. The benchmark Cal '12 position in Germany was at 59.25 euros a megawatt hour, down 50 cents from Friday. Traders said much of the nuclear news had been priced in when the contract hit 60 euros in early April.
Some analysts estimate that utilities risk losing billions of euros in earnings, but they point out that there will be offsetting factors such as greater opportunities for renewables.
E.ON said it was facing additional financial damages and would seek compensation, after already announcing last week it would sue the government over a fuel tax that it intends to levy although lifespans are no longer extended.
A spokesman said on Monday the concessions made since then to state premiers and the opposition posed even greater risks.
A spokeswoman for RWE said her company was studying the latest decisions and 'was keeping all legal options open'.
In another response, CDU energy expert Thomas Bareiss told Reuters the move could mean lower CO2 emissions goals for Germany and the EU as more fossil-fuels-based generation plants would probably step in to replace lost nuclear capacity.
The head of Germany's federation of industry (BDI), Hans-Peter Keitel, also said on German radio a change to Germany's ambitious climate protection goals might be necessary.
The International Energy Agency criticised Germany's move.
'By deciding to phase out nuclear, it is clear that the cost of electricity will increase, and the security implication is that reliance on imports rises,' its executive director Nobuo Tanaka said in London.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Markus Wacket, Gernot Heller, Chris Steitz, Tom Kaeckenhoff, and Vera Eckert; Editing by Jason Neely and Jane Baird)
© Copyright 2011 Reuters