German Nuclear Phase-Out and Energy Transition Policy

German Nuclear Phase-Out and Energy Transition Policy

           The following case study is based on the German nuclear phase-out and energy transition policy, also referred to as Energiewende. Germany plans to phase out every nuclear power plant by the end of 2022 to incorporate the use of renewable energy. This will help to enhance the energy efficiency of Germany and help in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent. Generally, the plan to transition from nuclear energy to that of fossil or renewable energy will be of great benefit to both Germany and the surrounding countries. One of the interesting facts about this transition of power is that four key objectives drive it. One is to reduce the carbon emissions hence improving climate change; second is that the reduction of fossil energy will help to enhance energy security. The third is to phase out nuclear power, and finally, the policy will guarantee massive competition between different industries with the capacity to produce renewable energy (Kuittinen & Velte, 2018).

The parties in charge of this initiative are the federal ministry of economic affairs and energy together with other German stakeholders. For this policy to become a success, it depends on the necessary upgraded technology, which will, in turn, help in the production of this renewable energy. This will help to decrease the emission of carbon hence saving the climatic change of the country.

The establishment and development of nuclear energy in Germany began in 1950. It gained more popularity in 1970 at the time of an oil crisis since the government sought for v reliable supply of energy. During this period, there emerged different protests of people who did not believe in the production and use of nuclear energy within the country. These protests became a barrier to the success of nuclear power generation, where several potential nuclear plants were cancelled (Kuittinen & Velte, 2018).

In 1986, an accident was reported at a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. As a result of this accident, the German government ensured that no more nuclear plants were developed. Years later, the political leaders in Germany began to hold discussions on the country’s climatic change which was as a result of the use of nuclear energy. This was one of the most critical environmental challenges which the government was facing at the time. The country decided to commit to ensuring the reduction of Greenhouse gas emissions by up to 21 per cent from 1990 to 2008. Several measures were taken for this to be possible. This included the purchasing of renewable energy an affordable price, to attract more investors to develop such plants within the country (Kuittinen & Velte, 2018).

In 2000, the German government saw the introduction of significant energy policy changes, such as the renewable energy act. This act helped to promote the investments of the renewable energies within the country and saw the introduction of the phase-out of nuclear power. At first, the nuclear phase-out plan did not instantly get rid of all the nuclear plants which had already been established within the country. However, it ensured the limitation of the energy produced within these countries. In 2010, the newly elected conservative government embraced the energy concept, which was a government strategy to ensure the full use of renewable energy by 2050. This strategy included both short term and long term strategies to increase the use of renewable energies, also by increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. The shortcoming of this strategy is that the use of nuclear power was extended up to around 2036 to allow time for the full use of renewable energies (Kuittinen & Velte, 2018).

The need to completely eradicate nuclear energy became more intense as all government leaders and stakeholders had reached the same agreement. Once the Fukushima nuclear accident had occurred in 2011, the government decided to pass an immediate law on the nuclear phase-out by 2022. Years later, the renewable energy act began to take necessary measures to help the public to manage the growth and competition of the production of renewable energy. They did this by reducing some of the fixed tariffs on renewable energy production and use. However, in 2017, the renewable energy act moved from using a fixed based tariff into using an auctioned-based determinant to help in the reduction of electricity prices (Kuittinen & Velte, 2018).

Today, nuclear energy phase-out enjoys the support from all political leaders, stakeholders as well as the citizens. Since 2000, all four political parties that have been in control of government have all agreed on the use of nuclear energy phase-out and a transition to renewable energy. This does not mean that the approval for the nuclear phase-out is only limited to the governing bodies. Statistics conducted on the same showed that 90 per cent of the citizens believe in the positive outcome of the nuclear phase-out and the transition to renewable energy for a better future for the country (Kuittinen & Velte, 2018).

Conclusively, as part of the 21st century, the world seeks to achieve a stable environment as well as an economical supply of sound energy. This is the reason behind the nuclear phase-out, which is otherwise referred to as Energiewende. Through this stable transition of powers from nuclear to fossil or renewable energies; Germany should record as one of the most environmentally friendly and energy-efficient countries. This, together with the success of high competition in terms of energy production and usage. Both the government and citizens should be aware of the core drivers to this new transition of energies. These drivers include; Environmental sustainability, climate protection as well as the reduction in importing power both for development or economic growth.

By minimising the importation of energies, it will help the government to increase in the development of renewable energy production sites all around the country. This will help the country or Germany increase and secure its share on the global market space for the production of renewable energies and other technologies related to energy efficiency. Therefore; key reasons towards the transition of nuclear power to renewable energy are due to;

• The nuclear accidents at the plants in Chernobyl and Fukushima.
• The reduction of Greenhouse gas emissions caused by carbon from coal which has had a significant effect on climate change.
• The reduction of the importation of energies to self-produce renewable energies hence creating jobs and ensuring the country’s dependence on electricity.

References

Kuittinen, H., & Velte, D. (2018). Energiewende [Ebook] (1st ed., p. 58). Europe: Luxembourg. Retrieved from             https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/mission_oriented_r_and_i_policies_case_study_r            eport_energiewende-de.pdf