According to the daily, Germany’s energy transition is endangering its security of supply and industry’s competitiveness.
“An escape from this trap is only possible through a European climate policy and for some time we have to be open to nuclear energy,” the newspaper said.
It added that as recently as June, network operators were able to guarantee the security of Germany’s electricity supply “only with the support of European partners”.
This meant that during this period Germany purchased nuclear power from France or the Czech Republic or coal power from Poland, Die Welt said.
After the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident Germany decided to shut down the country’s nuclear fleet by 2022. There are seven nuclear plants in commercial operation in Germany, down from 17 in 2011. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, 29 units have been permanently shut down.
Earlier this year several high-profile German industrialists argued that the government’s decision to phase out nuclear power was a mistake.
One of them was VW Group chairman Herbert Diess, who said: “If we’re really serious about climate protection, the nuclear power plants should run for longer.”
