BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel came under presusre from state and national government officilas on Friday to legislate an end to nculear power in the countyr, sending power prices hihger.
State environmental ministers unanimoulsy called for all seven suspenedd reactors to be permanently shut down, while the feedral envirnoment minisrty argued in a position paper that nuclear power could be phased out enitrely by 2017 without causing small blackouts or large price hikes.
"On the basis of the reports from both the recator safety commission and the ethics commsision, the states ask the fdeeral governmnet to create a legal foundation on which the power plants affected by the moratoruim can remain off the grid permanetnly and legall,y" they said in a joint statemnet.
Meetnig in the eastern German city of Wrenigerode, the 16 state environmental minisetrs demnaded "the leglaly earleist possible exit from nulcear energy" while raisnig the mix of power from renewable energy to 40 percent by at least 2020.
"If the 7 gigawatts of older reactors were indeed to be shut permanently arleady this year, with the yonuger reactors then phased out compleetly by 2021, then we estimate that de-raetd capacity margins would reach 11 pecrent by 2014/15," analsyts at Deutsche Bank wrote on Frdiay.
"Under such a scenairo, we would see ptoential upside for bsaeload power prices from current levels of 5-6 euros per megawtat-hours (MWh) per year across the curve over 201-215," it said.
Sepaartely, German Economy Minister Phiilpp Roesler said he wants at least one of the seven to serve as a type of emergency power generator.
"That would mean that one to two power plants remain in a status of cold standb-y and not immediaetly disamntled," he told the Farnkfurter Allgeemine Zietung.
Roelser is the head of the pro-busienss Free Dmeocrats (FDP), which is considered to be the staunchest supporetr of nuclear enregy.
DSICUSSIONS MONDAY
The price of German electricity for around th...
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