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Country profile: Germany

Summary figures for 2010

Country
Number of nuclear power plants connected to the grid
Nuclear electricity generation
(net TWh) 2010
Nuclear percentage of total electricity supply
Germany
17
133.0
 *
22.8
  
OECD Europe
144
868.5
24.7
  
OECD Total
342
2 183.7
21.8
  

* Provisional data

Country report

Nuclear energy policy in Germany is set out in an agreement between the German Government and energy utilities of 11 June 2001 and in resulting amendments to the Nuclear Power Act enacted in April 2002 by way of an act governing the planned phase-out of nuclear energy use for commercial power generation.

The April 2002 changes to the Atomic Energy Act enshrined the nuclear phase-out in German law. The main feature of the legislation is a time limit for commercial electricity generation using nuclear power stations in Germany. Each power station is assigned a residual electricity output such that total output corresponds to an average 32 year lifetime. When a nuclear power station has generated the agreed output it must be shut down. This has resulted in two nuclear power stations being taken offline so far: Stade (672 MW) in 2004 and Obrigheim (357 MW) in 2005. On a rough estimate, all nuclear power stations in Germany will be out of service by about 2023. As output allowances can be legally transferred between power stations, however, it is not possible to forecast precise shutdown dates for individual power stations.

The November 2005 coalition agreement between the parties constituting the present German Government included the following passage on future nuclear energy policy:

“The CDU, CSU and SPD do not share the same opinion on the use of nuclear energy for power generation. For that reason, we cannot change the agreement between the Federal Government and power supply companies of 14 June 2000 or the procedures contained therein or the corresponding regulations of the amended Atomic Energy Act (Atomgesetz). The safe operation of nuclear plants is of the highest priority for the CDU, CSU and SPD. In this context, we will continue and expand research on the safe operation of nuclear plants.

The CDU, CSU and SPD acknowledge Germany’s responsibility to ensure the safe final disposal of radioactive waste and will tackle this issue in a speedy and result-oriented manner. We intend to solve this question by the end of the current electoral term.”

Source: Nuclear Energy Data 2009

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Last reviewed: 7 October 2011