Germany: The report on the expenses of withdrawing from the use of nuclear energy

A report on the expenses of withdrawing from the use of nuclear energy in Germany, commissioned by the Federal Ministry of the Economy and developed by three independent research institutes, was published on 10 August. According to the authors of this report, recipients of electric energy in Germany will incur additional costs, which will total 32 billion euros by 2022. The price of electric energy may also rise in the short term in neighbouring countries, including Poland.

In this report, the institutes focused only on the presentation of the costs of withdrawing from the use of nuclear energy related to growing electricity prices. In the opinion of the authors of this report, the prices will grow due to: the nuclear reactors being decommissioned, energy production transfer abroad, and an increase in the imports of electric energy. The report does not present any detailed data. For example, the authors admit that the replacement of the electricity produced by the nuclear power plants will require an increase in the imports of gas and coal and the development of gas and coal power plants, without however specifying where the gas would be imported from. More electric energy will be imported first of all from the Czech Republic and France, and after 2025 also from Poland and the Netherlands.

The authors of the report also admit that the document does not take into account all the costs of withdrawal from the use of nuclear energy, for example those linked to an accelerated development of renewable energy sources and transmission networks. It can be estimated also on the basis of other expert opinions that the total costs of withdrawal from the use of nuclear energy may even exceed 100 billion euros by 2022. A lower supply of electric energy in Germany will cause a need to import it from neighbouring countries, which will reduce the energy supply in those countries, as well. This reduction in supply may bring about an increase in electricity prices also in Poland, especially due to breaks in the transmission of energy from German wind farms to Poland in windless periods. <koma>