The German federal government will vote against the European Commission's Taxonomy Complementary Climate Delegated Act to classify some nuclear projects as green investments. The German authorities consider that nuclear power is not sustainable, and consequently should not be included in the EU taxonomy, which is a so-called green labelling system for investments in the energy sector unveiled in February 2022 by the European Commission. The text must approved by EU members countries and the European Parliament. To reject the Commission's proposal, 20 of the European Union's 27 countries must oppose it.
According to the EU taxonomy, nuclear plants could be considered green if they use the best-available existing technologies such as Generation III+ recognised until 2045 (date of approval of construction permit) or advanced technologies with closed fuel cycle (Generation IV); modifications and upgrades of existing nuclear installations for the purposes of lifetime extension, will be recognised until 2040 (date of approval by competent authority).
Germany will phase out nuclear energy by 2022. Indeed, a 2012 law confirmed the definitive shutdown of 8 nuclear reactors that were closed immediately after Fukushima and the closure of a further nine reactors by 2022 (3 of which have already been closed). Nuclear capacity stands at 4.1 GW with 3 units, planned to be closed by the end of 2022.
Interested in Global Energy Research?
Enerdata's premium online information service provides up-to-date market reports on 110+ countries. The reports include valuable market data and analysis as well as a daily newsfeed, curated by our energy analysts, on the oil, gas, coal and power markets.
This user-friendly tool gives you the essentials about the domestic markets of your concern, including market structure, organisation, actors, projects and business perspectives.