German Move to Keep Nuclear Threatens Renewables Drive

摘要

Chancellor Angela Merkel's recent decision to extend the operating life of Germany's 20.5 gigawatt fleet of nuclear power stations by 12 years on average puts at risk both the country's previously rapid move into renewable generation and expansion of gas-fired capacity as backup for intermittent renewables (WGI Jul.28,p7). The only evident plus for efforts to curtail carbon emissions is that new coal-fired plants, the choice of some utilities to replace nuclear for baseload production, could also fall by the wayside.