GERMANY SUBSTITUTES WIND FOR NUCLEAR POWER

[Susan Gawarecki <loc@ICX.NET>]

GERMANY SUBSTITUTES WIND FOR NUCLEAR POWER



BERLIN, Germany, June 11, 2001 (ENS) - The German government has

unveiled plans for massive development of offshore wind power to help

the country reconcile its climate protection goals with its nuclear

phaseout policy. 



A deal between the German government and German utilities to shut down

the country's 19 nuclear power plants has been in the works for years.

It was finally sealed today as Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and

executives of four power companies signed an agreement in Berlin. 



Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin, a Green member of the German Social

Democrat/Green coalition government has been pushing for the nuclear

phaseout since he took office in October 1998. 



Trittin told journalists in Berlin that the wind power plan could see

between 75 and 80 terrawatt hours of electricity annually from

offshore wind parks by 2030. This is equivalent to nearly 60 percent

of the nuclear electricity produced last year in Germany. 



...



The spokesman said that the spectacular growth in offshore wind energy

envisaged under the government's plan would be achieved entirely through

private capital investment. The country's renewable energy support law

guarantees the price for wind energy at euros 0.09 (DM 0.178) per

kilowatt hour. This brings the industry to "near economic" status, the

ministry says. 



Trittin said that two areas of the North Sea have been identified as

appropriate for the construction of wind turbines which could total

4,000 by 2030. He said that the areas avoid all marine and bird

conservation areas. 



Offshore wind power is contentious among Germany environmentalists

who are deeply divided about its environmental impact. The ministry

does not expect its plan to get an easy ride so it has invited

ecologists to a two-day congress this week to debate the

"integration of climate protection, nature protection, marine

protection and energy policy fit for the future."



Environmentalists are also displeased about the nuclear power plant

phaseout schedule, which they view as too slow. 



Pro-nuclear industrialists and politicians do not want Germany to back

away from nuclear power, and some have expressed the intention to

reverse this move under future governments. They warn it could slow

efforts to limit global warming in line with the international pact

signed in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, by forcing Germany to burn more

fossil fuels which emit greenhouse gases. 



...



For full text and graphics visit:

http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2001/2001L-06-11-03.html



-- 

.....................................................

Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director

Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee

                       -----                       

A schedule of meetings on DOE issues is posted on our Web site

http://www.local-oversight.org/meetings.html - E-mail loc@icx.net

.....................................................

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