Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder criticizes Minister of Economics Habeck's decision to leave two nuclear power plants on the grid as a reserve. It is wrong, incomprehensible and cannot be implemented in practice, says the CSU boss on Wednesday evening on the ARD talk show "Maischberger".
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder has again spoken out in favor of extending the life of the three nuclear power plants that are still on the grid. You can now see that the "dependency" on Russia is not really working. The Germans now paid more than before. "Putin is actually kidding us by collecting more money but firing the gas that is actually intended for Germany into the atmosphere - a real mockery of us." In this crisis one has to ask oneself whether one can really risk doing without electricity for ten million households. Economics Minister Robert Habeck's decision to only run two nuclear power plants as a reserve from January 2023 was "wrong, incomprehensible and cannot be implemented in practice," said the CSU politician on Wednesday evening on the ARD program "Maischberger". The European partners have also asked the German government to leave the nuclear power plants connected to the grid.
Habeck based his decision on an electricity stress test, which was intended to check whether the electricity grid in all German regions could collapse in the event of a harsh winter and a gas shortage. The stress test came to the conclusion that the two nuclear power plants in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg could make a difference for grid stability in southern Germany, but only until April 2023. The two power plants Isar 2 and Neckarwestheim are now to be left in reserve until this point in time will. The experts in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the network operators had agreed on this.
In the meantime, however, the operator of the Isar 2 nuclear power plant, Preußen Elektra, has written to Habeck. In it, the EON subsidiary announced that an operational reserve was not technically possible. Habeck was irritated on Wednesday. The decision as to whether the two nuclear power plants would also be needed only had to be made once, and the responsible technicians were obviously ignored. At a press conference on Monday evening, when presenting the concept, Habeck said that the power plants should be restarted in the event of a power shortage. There was no talk of a one-off decision. A conversation should bring a solution.
At Maischberger, however, Söder continued to advocate a limited term for the nuclear power plants still on the grid. "I share the view that this cannot go on forever. I also share the view that we will then have to use other forms of energy," said the politician. The discussion is about a risk assessment. "The risk now is that the grid collapses, that there are blackouts and that, in addition to a heat problem, we are increasing an already veritable power problem." In comparison, it is less risky to extend the operation of the power plants, which have been running successfully and safely for years, according to Bavaria's Prime Minister.
If Söder were chancellor now, "then I would extend nuclear power." In addition, the LNG terminals would have to be built faster and hydrogen networks would have to be planned in the south. At the same time, Söder advocated a reduction in VAT and a rescue package for small and medium-sized businesses. Economics Minister Habeck tried to bring up such a rescue package on Tuesday evening in the same program.
