To the displeasure of the federal government, investments in nuclear power plants in the EU will in future be classified as climate-friendly.
Wouldn't it then be easy to export this “green” electricity to Germany and accelerate the conversion of the industry towards climate neutrality there and charge the expected mass of electricity-powered cars.
Cheap, without additional wind turbines?
No, they say in unison from the industry. Even after the EU decision, nuclear power cannot be sold as green. In Germany, the marketing must show the source from which the electricity offered comes from. For nuclear energy there are no certificates of origin that are comparable to those for renewables. Nuclear power therefore remains gray power, bought as a mix, without clear proof of origin. So-called PPAs, as they are concluded almost every week between wind farm operators and industrial companies - guaranteed long-term purchase agreements - do not exist between industry and nuclear power plant operators. Apart from that, nuclear power is also in short supply. A simple start-up of the pile beyond the borders is not possible at all. Germany still exports more electricity to France than the other way around,says Jörg Rothermel from the Association of the Chemical Industry (VCI).
"We are currently not aware of any specific work"
After the EU decision, the energy suppliers want to stick to their strategy.
“Nuclear energy is being phased out.
We see the future in renewable energies ”, Kerstin Andreae, the managing director of the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management, told her followers on LinkedIn.
The energy supplier ENBW sees it similarly.
"From today's perspective and for the foreseeable future, the classification of nuclear energy as sustainable in the current EU taxonomy draft has no influence on the generation strategy," writes board member Georg Stamatelopoulos of the FAZ
However, it is not quite that simple for energy-intensive companies. The EU's “taxonomy” ultimately only defines which investments in which type of generation are classified as sustainable. "It does not specify whether the electricity is then also green or sustainable or not," says VCI managing director Rothermel. According to him, such questions must now be resolved nationally.
The steel trade association reports something similar. “We are currently not aware of any concrete work on a green steel definition on the part of the EU,” writes its President Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff. Whether and to what extent nuclear power is classified as sustainable and green must be determined by national regulations, says Rothermel. “There will still be a lot of lively discussions about this.” Many areas of conflict are already emerging. Should the federal government not classify hydrogen, steel or basic chemicals that are produced with the help of nuclear power as sustainable - what then happens to the import? And how will customers react to that? Is a car buyer content with the label “sustainable steel”, or does he want proof that his steel is made with electricity from renewable energies?