Decommissioning fully functional nuclear power plants was not a good idea. That realization has belatedly dawned on Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Germany’s decision to shut down all of its nuclear power plants was an “enormous mistake” and has come at a high cost to the economy. This was stated by Chancellor Friedrich Merz in a speech to the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Dessau on Wednesday evening.

“It was a serious strategic mistake to phase out nuclear power … we simply do not have enough energy production capacity,” Merz said.

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To keep prices at acceptable levels, Germany’s energy system is now reliant on government intervention.

“To once again achieve acceptable market prices for energy production, we would need to permanently subsidize energy prices from the federal budget.”

“We cannot do this in the long run.”

The World’s Most Expensive Transition

Led by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, the government sought to accelerate a plan to phase out nuclear energy that was first adopted in 2000. The policy aimed to minimize nuclear risks while promoting the transition to renewable energy. The goal is to achieve climate neutrality by 2045 at the latest.

During the 2010s, Germany gradually shut down its nuclear fleet. The phase-out ended in April 2023 when the last three reactors were taken out of operation, concluding roughly six decades of nuclear power production.

“So we are now carrying out the most expensive energy transition in the entire world,” said Merz.

“I don’t know any other country that makes things as expensive and difficult as Germany.”

The Greens are still strongly opposed to nuclear power and consider the phase-out irreversible, while the AfD has been among the strongest advocates for restarting or expanding nuclear capacity.

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