ELECTRICITY IN GERMANY

Germany is struggling to produce enough electricity for its people and for its industries. It over-invested in renewables and closed down most of its nuclear stations and now, in December, there are short days with little sun; there is also very little wind. Coal-fired power stations are having to be fired up again to make up the energy shortage. It is lucky they mothballed the coal plants; here in the UK they demolished most of them; most unwise.

According to "Electricity Maps" which collects and compares electricity generation data from around the world, Germany ranked 160th out of 177 in terms of CO2 emissions per kilowatt hour. On Wednesday morning (30 Nov) the value was 726g CO2 per kilowatt hour. Poland was worse (950g) but all other EU countries were emitting lower levels. Investing in renewables is not necessarily as wise as its supporters claim.

Incidentally, the CO2 hypothesis is a red herring, but let's go along with it, since the political narrative goes in that direction ....

Other countries generate their electricity in a much more "climate-friendly" way. Sweden generates an average of 21g per kWh because of its high proportion of hydro and nuclear. Here in the UK we need nuclear like a junkie needs his fix, but no-one in government is interested.

In Germany the three remaining nuclear stations delivered 3.8 gigawatts on Wednesday morning; about 5% of the Grid. Wind was on 3.3 and solar was 3.1.

The last three nuclear power plants are to be shut down by April 2023. Unless the government changes its mind on the closures, the future looks pretty grim for German industry.

Habitat21

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