Gas to Fill Germany's Nuclear Shortfall
Gerhard Koenig, in charge of gas trading at BASF unit Wintershall has commented that Germany's change of heart on nuclear energy will likely produce power capacity shortfalls that could be filled by natural gas.
"A number of gas-fired power station projects were put on ice when the government lengthened nuclear life cycles last autumn. I am absolutely certain that these plans will now be revitalized."
Koenig made the comments after the presentation of 2010 results.
Germany responded to the Japanese nuclear crisis by ordered the temporary closure of seven of the country’s 17 nuclear power stations for a three-month safety review.
A decision may also be pending on the revocation of lifetime extensions for all its nuclear plants in response to widespread public fears about nuclear energy. The German government has previously announced the delay of the country’s nuclear phase-out from 2022 to 2036.
(Note: The Financial Times is reporting that energy producer RWE will mount a legal challenge decision to shut seven of the country’s nuclear power stations - Read more from the Financial Times HERE)
When it granted an average 12 years of extra lifetime to reactors last autumn, local utilities protested that they had to abandon a gas project pipeline worth 8 billion euros ($11.37 billion) as nuclear would clog up the power grids.
Among quick responses to the changed policy, Bremen local utilities Stadtwerke Bremen and Iserlohn last week said they will build a 445 megawatts (MW) gas turbine plant to be ready for production in 2013, with a number of partners including railway company Deutsche Bahn.
Citing this as an example of changed preferences, Koenig said smaller players building gas plants would inject more competition into a power market where four leading producers account for over 80 percent of total output.
Nuclear last year supplied 23 percent of German power while brown coal and hard coal supplied 41 percent, renewables supplied 17 percent and gas 14 percent.
Source: Reuters