The German government has approved a draft law confirming that the power companies RWE and Vattenfall will be entitled a compensation for the country's decision to phase out nuclear power by 2023. The exact sum will be determined in 2023, based on the development of electricity prices in Germany. The current estimates stand at approximately €1bn but the total sum is likely to surpass this amount. This decision is in line with the December 2016 ruling by the German constitutional court, which ruled in favour of three nuclear groups, namely E.ON, RWE and Vattenfall.
In March 2011, in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Germany ordered the immediate closure of the eight oldest reactors; in August, the government amended the phaseout law to scrap the lifetime extensions already awarded and to exit nuclear power by the end of 2021. Nuclear power plant operators opposed the phase out and claimed compensation for operating losses and for the nuclear tax that had just been introduced. The companies claimed compensation for shutting down the plants, E.ON estimating its losses at €8bn (around €6bn for RWE and €4.7bn for Vattenfall).