The head of the International Energy Agency said Germany's plans to abandon nuclear power should consider the consequences to Europe’s tightly interconnected power market.
Absent a joint decision on nuclear power among European nations, IEA director Nobuo Tanaka told Financial Times Germany, “sustainability and supply security are sacrificed in the whole of Europe."
The IEA was formed in response to the 1973 oil crisis. Headquartered in France, its helps coordinate the response of its 28 member countries to oil supply shocks and advises them on broader energy policy. To that end, Tanaka also said a shutdown of German reactors would increase power prices and dependence on other energy sources like carbon-heavy coal and natural gas.
Germany shut down seven of its oldest reactors in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi crisis in Japan. Its new energy policy, to be announced next month, may take some or all of those reactors offline permanently and likely will outline a phaseout of nuclear power in the country. The government of Chancellor Angela Merkel originally supported license extensions for nuclear plants but reversed its position following the mutiple-reactor Japanese accident.
As of Monday, 13 of Germany's 17 reactors were offline because of the moratorium, maintenance or other issues. The idled generation totals almost 16 gigawatts, Reuters reported, with Germany making up much of the shortfall by importing coal-generated power from eastern Europe and nuclear power from France.
Germany also has invested significantly in renewables over the last 10 years. Reuters quoted analysts as saying the country has 6 gigawatts of solar generation and 1.7 gigawatts of wind generation available at peak hours. Additionally, some of the reactors down for maintenance are expected to come back online in the next week.