Germany’s decision to shut down all its nuclear power plants was a “huge mistake” and has come at a high cost to the economy, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said yesterday, speaking to the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Dessau.
His comments reignited debate over the country’s long-term energy strategy and power generation capacity.
“It was a serious strategic mistake to phase out nuclear energy … we simply don’t have enough energy generation capacity,” Merz said.
Germany’s energy system now relies on state intervention to keep prices at acceptable levels.
“To have acceptable market prices for energy production again, we would have to permanently subsidise energy prices from the federal budget,” Merz said, adding: “We can’t do this in the long run.”
Germany’s nuclear phase-out was accelerated following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March 2011. The government led by then-chancellor Angela Merkel moved to speed up an exit plan that had first been adopted in 2000. The policy aimed to reduce nuclear risks while advancing the Energiewende, or “energy turnaround”, Germany’s energy transition centred on renewables.
Merz said the decision to exit nuclear power had long-term strategic consequences.
Over the 2010s, Germany progressively shut down its nuclear fleet. The phase-out concluded in April 2023, when the final three reactors — Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim 2 — were permanently taken offline, ending about six decades of nuclear electricity generation.
The closures came amid Europe’s energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Despite renewed debate about nuclear power’s role in energy security, the remaining reactors’ operating lives were extended by only three months before being shut down.
Merz said Germany should at least have retained its last remaining nuclear capacity during that period.
... continue reading