In order not to drive up German electricity prices any further, Left Party leader Bartsch is calling for a temporary suspension of electricity exports to EU countries. France in particular is currently in focus, as many nuclear power plants there are not connected to the grid. Bartsch also calls for a reduction in the electricity tax.
In view of the sharp rise in energy prices, the left is calling for German electricity exports to other EU countries to be suspended. “We need a moratorium on electricity exports from Germany to other European countries,” said Dietmar Bartsch, co-group leader of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”.
“It is difficult to explain to the citizens why the need to save and skyrocketing prices should apply in this country when electricity is exported in large quantities at the same time,” he criticized. “The fact that gas is also used for this is not conveyable.” It is absurd “if countries like France only delay the energy transition, then consumers in this country foot the bill, while at the same time electricity prices in Germany are the highest in the EU,” said Bartsch.
France and Germany both import electricity from each other. For several months, however, electricity imports to France have grown significantly and are significantly higher than French exports to Germany. According to the Zukunft Gas association, this imbalance is one of the reasons for the increase in electricity production from gas in July. In this context, the President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, spoke on the ZDF talk show “Markus Lanz” of an effect that has something to do with “neighborly solidarity”, “even if it is undesirable from a gas point of view”.
The reason for the increased French demand for electricity is that more than half of the 56 French nuclear power plants are currently out of service. On the one hand, it is about planned repair work, some of which had to be postponed due to the corona pandemic. On the other hand, kilns are also out of service because investigations into the formation of cracks are being carried out there after the electricity company EDF had identified some defects at the beginning of the year. In view of the decommissioned reactors, EDF has already had to correct its expected electricity production for this year downwards. As the company announced, the maintenance work on four of the reactors will last until November or December, which is longer than planned – not good news in the middle of the energy crisis.
According to the information, around 280 to 300 terawatt hours are expected to be produced this year. When all power plants are running, the capacity is 430 terawatt hours. Basically, France is planning a renaissance of nuclear power with the construction of eight new power plants by 2050. The electricity company EDF is to be completely nationalized again in the course of this. At the same time, however, renewable energies are to be expanded.
Meanwhile, left-wing politician Bartsch also called for the tax on electricity to be reduced. “Electricity must go from being a luxury back to being common property,” said Bartsch. “But the price of electricity must not continue to rise: the electricity tax must be reduced to a minimum, and a low-cost basic quota – based on average consumption – introduced.”