German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has ordered the country to prepare to extend the life of its three remaining nuclear power plants through April 15, 2023, overriding his energy minister, Robert Habeck, as Berlin scrambles to avert an energy crisis this winter.
Scholz outlined his decision in a letter to the Cabinet on Monday, which ordered Germany’s Economy, Environment, and Finance Ministries to create the legal basis to keep its last three nuclear plants online through next spring.
“The legal basis will be created to allow the operation of the nuclear power plants Isar 2, Neckarwestheim 2 and Emsland beyond December 31, 2022 until April 15, 2023,” Scholz said in a statement.
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“I would ask that the relevant proposed regulations be presented to the cabinet as soon as possible as part of the distribution of responsibilities,” he added.
In pushing to extend the life of Germany’s nuclear plants, Scholz is overruling Habeck, whose Green Party voted this weekend to extend the life of only two of its nuclear plants.
Meanwhile, the pro-business Free Democrats, or the FDP, pushed to keep the third plant, Emsland, operational through 2024.
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“It is in the vital interest of our country and its economy that we maintain all power generation capacity this winter,” Finance Minister and FDP Chairman Christian Lindner said in a statement. The chancellor, he added, “has now provided clarity.”
