Germany’s cabinet on 23 May agreed to grant compensation of up to €1bn to utilities for income lost due to Germany’s planned phaseout of nuclear power. The utilities affected include RWE, Vattenfall and E.ON.
A Constitutional Court ruled in 2016 that a March 2011 post-Fukushima decision to decommission nuclear power plants (NPPs) by the end of 2022 violated some property rights, clearing the way to compensation. The cabinet has agreed that utilities can now demand financial compensation for investments in NPPs made between October 2010 and March 2011. The government had decided in October 2010 to push back the decommission date for nuclear plants by several years, obliging companies to invest in their sites. The cabinet also agreed that RWE and Swedish company Vattenfall should get “adequate financial compensation” for electricity at their closed Brunsbuettel, Kruemmel and Muelheim-Kaerlich plants.
In the wake of the 2011 nuclear phaseout decision, RWE and Vattenfall sued the government, demanding damages for the investments they had made and lost income. Environment ministry spokesman Stephan Gabriel Haufe said the draft law clarified remaining “uncertainties” but noted that it would take until 2023 for the total bill to be calculated. E.On is not entitled to compensation because residual electricity produced by its plants can still be distributed to other units until the nuclear phaseout is complete. EnBW, took no part in the RWE and Vattenfall legal action. Vattenfall also made its case for compensation to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington in 2012 and is still awaiting a decision.
Germany has seven operating nuclear plants in commercial operation and 29 that have retired. RWE operates the Emsland and Gundremmingen C plants. Vattenfall has a 20% stake in Brokdorf. E.On is 75% majority owner of Isar 2 and EnBW is the majority owner of Neckarwestheim 2 (98.45%) and Philippsburg 2 (100%).
