Daimler exec: German energy costs will rise "because nuclear is so cheap"

[wtmusic]

In 2009, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Daimler Director of Future Mobility Herbert Kohler celebrated an agreement to build electric cars

"Not long after the Fukushima disaster, and after big anti-nuke protests, the administration of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it would phase out the country's nuclear plants over the next 11 years, and close a group of them immediately. Last year, the government had announced an extension of the life of its nuclear plants to the mid-2030s.

That's left business asking: What now? What combination of gas, coal, oil and renewable energy can replace this big chunk of power? How will the country meet international carbon-emission obligations? Will this make Germany more dependent on mercurial Russia for energy supplies?"

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"'It's nearly impossible to make a reasonable assessment of future energy costs—the only thing you know is that costs will go up because nuclear is so cheap," says Mr. Bischoff of Daimler. "What is so shocking to me is that political decisions were made based on the sentiments of the population in a very limited time frame without really informing people what the alternatives would be.'"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904563904576584420804554628.html

[AtheistCrusader]

1. No it isn't.

Maybe it was, last time they built a reactor, but it's incredibly expensive now. In the US, you're looking at 8-9bn for a reactor. Often there are cost overruns.

[FBaggins]

2. Their reactors are already built

That's a sunk cost.

Their decision isn't whether to build an expensive facility or not... It's whether or not to use something they already have.

[Yo_Mama]

3. They had already decided to phase out their nuclear plants

The current issue is an acceleration of that, which brings forward new costs (investments in grids, renewables and new fossil plants) and temporarily constricts power supply.

This survey:
http://www.vbw-bayern.de/agv/vbw-Themen-Wirtschaftspolitik-Energie-Publikationen-Ausstieg_aus_der_Kernenergie_bis_2022_Konsequenzen_fuer_Deutschland_und_Bayern--14361,ArticleID__20668.htm'

suggested that heavy industry could see their energy costs rise about 50%.

Currently German industry electricity costs are less than half of household costs, and no one believes that this can continue. This site is very useful - it has tons of data on European energy costs, feed-in tariffs, energy taxes, etc:
http://www.energy.eu/#Domestic

[wtmusic]

4. In the 1980s protestors stalled licensing hearings at Shoreham by reading

complete articles from magazines. It caused cost overruns of $1 million/day.

A couple years of that could break anyone's piggy bank.

[kristopher]

5. "We Can Do It" Says German Environment Agency on Nuclear Phase Out

...Ironically, the conservative Merkel government has proposed the exit policy implemented by the previous red-green government of Social Democrats and the Greens. Merkel's conservative party rose to power in part on a platform of extending the operation of the existing reactors. Her policy on extending the reactors operating lives was tabled shortly before the Fukushima accident. The policy reversal is historic not only in Germany, but worldwide.

Critics of the reversal have charged that:
Germany will suffer power outages
Germany will import nuclear power from other countries, notably France
Germany will build massive new coal plants to make up the shortfall

The analysis by the German environment agency was undertaken to specifically examine these questions. They concluded that Germany can close the reactors within five years and do so:
Without power outages
Without importing nuclear power from other countries
Without building new coal plants
With only a modest increase in the cost of electricity

The agency says that Germany can close the nuclear plants by faster development of its renewable sources of energy and the construction of 5,000 MW of new gas-fired generation. The new gas-fired generation will give the grid the necessary flexibility to meet demand while also preserving Germany's commitment to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions...

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/06/we-can-do-it-says-german-environment-agency-on-nuclear-phase-out