Russian Gas Beckons for Germany as Merkel Turns From Nuclear

[phantom power]

Merkel’s pledge to speed the exit from atomic power after the crisis in Japan is helping push natural-gas prices higher as Germany scrambles to identify energy alternatives. Gas supplied by OAO Gazprom may be the easiest way for her to meet Germany’s climate goals and keep Europe’s largest economy running.

As workers battle a meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, Merkel is leading a global push to revisit nuclear energy, which provides about a quarter of the power generated in Germany. Increasing imports of gas from Russia, which holds the world’s biggest reserves, would deepen ties to the east yet risk raising tension with the U.S.

Russia is “re-emerging as this stable energy supplier for Europe,” Will Pearson, a London-based energy analyst at Eurasia Group, said in an interview. “There’s so much energy capacity there and right now it looks like a safer alternative” to options such as North Africa.

Likely winners include the Nord Stream AG Baltic Sea gas pipeline chaired by Schroeder, a 7.4 billion-euro ($10.6 billion) project that underscores Europe’s dependence on Russia as an energy supplier and the growing global clout of emerging economies that also include China, India and Brazil. The so- called BRIC nations are due to discuss commodities when they meet on April 14 in Sanya, China.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-07/russian-gas-beckons-for-germany-as-merkel-turns-from-nuclear.html

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. What is Merkel going to do about the French nuclear plants on the common border

and is Germany going to continue to buy power from France generated by nuclear plants?

[Nihil]

2. 1) Nothing. 2) Yes.

The alternative would involve severe inconvenience (rather than
just political posturing) and nobody likes that ...

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. We are much the same here...

IIRC about 20% of domestic power is nuclear based and about a third of the plants are similar in design to those in Fukashima. We can not walk from nuclear power either.

[bananas]

4. Those old French reactors won't last forever - what is France going to do about the French reactors?

The new ones aren't working out so well:

http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/01/stories/2011040165361600.htm

<snip>

French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) president Andre-Claude Lacoste said on Wednesday that he “could not rule out” a moratorium on the third generation EPR nuclear reactor under construction at Flamanville in Normandy, northern France.

“If the question of a moratorium is raised, and we have raised it, then it will be on the construction of Flamanville 3,” he said. The reactor has cost over € 5 billion to build and has run into delays and cost over-runs. Mr. Lacoste said the reactor, whose engineering works were led by the French electricity giant EDF, was “very compromised.”

<snip>

As far as France's second EPR (1,650 MWe) reactor to be built at Penly is concerned, Mr. Houdre cast doubts on whether the project would ever get off the ground.

<snip>

Leaked documents from the EDF revealed that engineers working on the EPR feared “the possibility” of a “Chernobyl style” meltdown because both the materials and workmanship were substandard.

<snip>

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Be interesting to see

Up until now they have been very gung ho on nuclear. My personal expectation is that they will eventually return to it